After the dispersion of the rally, a migrant camp erupted near the Seimas
Lithuanian authorities, which at the beginning of the week faced almost simultaneously with protests in the parliament building in Vilnius that both actions are coordinated and clearly anti-state. The Russian Foreign Ministry has already criticized the statement, and together with the expert we have found out what is behind the changing rhetoric of the Lithuanian leadership, which is beginning to behave too much as its own opponents.
Photo: Photos from the video
After members of the Seim (Lithuanian unicameral parliament) announced their readiness to take measures to tighten restrictions on coronavirus, about five thousand people gathered in the parliament building to protest against the new measures. After the meeting of the deputies, the demonstrators began to block them at the exits. Police again tried to push protesters out of the building, and when stones and bottles were thrown at them & nbsp; & mdash; used tear gas.
Shortly after the rally near the Seim in Vilnius dispersed, it became clear that the riots had already begun in the village of Rudininkai, which contains about four hundred illegal migrants who arrived in Lithuania via Belarus. Some even managed to escape, breaking the fences, but the guards still brought them back.
As stated the next day, August 11, Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Bilotaite, the agreement between the two events is not accidental. According to the Lithuanian leadership, this is a deliberate sabotage from outside that threatens the state.
& quot; This is a hybrid attack, & mdash; said the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Interior. & mdash; These processes take place against the background of the current of illegal migration, when our forces are concentrated on borders and protected objects. When such events take place (like the Seimas), it is not an expression of civic status, but a well-organized anti-state activity. In a situation where we are forced to withdraw the forces of our law enforcement agencies from other facilities, this can only be interpreted as a well-organized process.“
In Russia, Bilotait's words met with skepticism. Foreign Ministry official Maria Zakharova asked several rhetorical questions at once in her Telegram channel, such as why the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of the Interior is depriving his citizens of the opportunity to express their civil status and what forms of declaration of dissatisfaction people would consider appropriate.
It is also ironic that the rhetoric of the Lithuanian leadership is increasingly reminiscent of the position of the Belarusian authorities criticized by it. Vilnius and Minsk follow essentially the same logic: there are problems & mdash; declare sabotage actions coordinated from abroad. Of course, in verbal skirmishes at the level of representatives of the authorities, including the same Lukashenko, this fact will now be used, if not by adding points to the Belarusian president, then at least by neutralizing the loud statements of the Lithuanian leaders.
at the same time as stated in an interview with MK Senior Researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Olenchenko But not the one who seeks to fit in the situation of Bilotayte.
“These words must be seen as an indirect acknowledgment by the Lithuanian authorities that they have not learned to govern the country, prefer external activity, moralize over neighbors, etc., & mdash; believes the expert. & mdash; They were still unable to solve their own internal political, socio-economic problems. And the rise of protests in front of the parliament building & mdash; evidence that the company has accumulated issues for the country's management that are not meeting their obligations. Present what's going on like external interference & mdash; just an attempt to hide his own failure for thirty years of independence. & # 39; & # 39;