Lithuanian President charged with “splitting the state”: Lithuanian press digest

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Lithuanian President may face a lawsuit: he is charged with “splitting the state”

Lithuanian media report that the leader of the Labor Party, the most popular party in Lithuania and one of the two key parties in the ruling coalition, Viktor Uspasskikh has felt himself strong enough to sue Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus. A whole number of political experts qualify this as unheard-of “insolence.” Some of them say that this may be a way just to keep up image for the businessman who has been dismissed from the post of economy minister and is holding no offices now.

The conflict of the week was about who will control the distribution of the multi-billion EU inflows. According to the coalition treaty, the Labor Party should control the Economy Ministry, while the Social Democrats – the Ministry of Finance. Uspasskikh and the Social Democrat leader Algirdas Brazauskas were secretly negotiating throughout the week to finally see Adamkus to – quite unexpectedly – take the side of Brazauskas – for in Lithuania the Russian-speaking Uspasskikh is increasingly an “alien” and reportedly “an agent of Moscow.” One more big concern for Adamkus might well be the LP’s twice as big popularity over the Social Democrats.

Feb 17 Uspasskikh publicly accused Adamkus of “blackmail.” Respublika reports Uspasskikh to demand that Adamkus apologize to the people for having split the state. Uspasskikh is especially angry with and is going to sue Adamkus for his report that he is pressuring the Social Democrat leader Algirdas Brazauskas. He reports the president to say that in an interview Feb 16 and also to allege that because of differences over the distribution of the EU assistance, the Labor Party is going to leave the ruling coalition.

This has made Uspasskikh indignant and he has decided to also express his opinion. He has publicly disproved all the rumors that he is pressuring Brazauskas and has assured that his party is ready to further work in the government and is not going to leave.

Viktor Uspasskikh: “In this situation I am personally a victim to political blackmail as I am personally an addressee to everything said above – and said by a third person, who does not even take part in the coalition.” “I thought the president was a person respecting democratic values and fighting for them, but the Thursday incident has made me change my opinion. I regret that he or the office his represents have betrayed everything we valued, everything we backed him for.” In Respublika Uspasskikh says: “The President has no right to slander me.” Asked whom this may benefit, he says: “I don’t know what they are after, but it’s not the first week they have been doing this.” The daily reports Uspasskikh to be going to consult with lawyers and to be considering suing the president. True, the president has a chance to avoid lawsuit if he publicly says who has ordered the speculations and presents his apologies to the people for his attempt to split the state.

“Lithuania must share its problems and threats with the EU and NATO countries”

In the light of the cartoon scandal, more and more Lithuanians are getting convinced that Lithuania must answer the challenge of the Muslim world together with the EU and NATO. This is what Respublika concludes from its interview with once Lithuanian Defense Minister and now the country’s Permanent Representative to NATO Linas Linkevicius. “Linkevicius believes that Lithuania must share its problems and threats with the EU and NATO countries.”

Read bellow the most interesting parts of the interview:

How did the NATO and EU countries react to our support of Denmark in the cartoon scandal?

Let’s not give Lithuania a special place here — supporting Denmark are many countries. Informally, my colleagues in the NATO Council admitted that the freedom of press is very important and must be protected. It is an undisputable value of our democracy – something we must always stress. But there was also another viewpoint that the diversity of religions is no less important and must be protected too. What is actually important here is respect and good sense. They certainly condemned the recent violence in the world and stressed that only dialogue can bring us to accord. And this dialogue is underway. Though there are few signs of improvement yet, there already are obvious sings of dialogue. I could see that during the NATO Defense Ministers’ informal conference in Sicily. No decisions were passed there, but present at one of the meetings were the DMs of the Mediterranean region – Morocco, Egypt, Mauritania, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan and Israel, who focused on practical cooperation and never mentioned the cartoons. This suggests that those countries want to look forward, especially as no disorders or violence were reported from there.

Wouldn’t we look strange in the eyes of the NATO and EU countries if we didn’t reprint the cartoons or support Denmark?

I don’t want to discuss this subject.

Has our harsh response to Iran’s note strengthened or weakened our positions?

The response was adequate to the note — this is not subject to discussion. What I am thinking of is that in order to prove the truth or to once more point out some cultural differences, one must not poke his finger at this point and make a story of it. This is not always a way for one to get what he wants.

What do you think about the comments in Lithuania that our country should have stayed neutral and aloof from this conflict? How would NATO and the EU regard us then? Would it be actually better for us to keep silence?

This question is closer to me and I can answer it as former defense minister too. I have constantly heard some calls for neutrality, but I don’t think they are right. When we have problems ourselves, we hope for support, we want national problems to get international response. We felt this especially acutely when we were not yet EU and NATO member. We actually wanted others to give attention to our grieves. And so, to act otherwise now would be not very much moral or civil on our part. Now that we are member to those organizations, we should not only feel the advantages of collective security, but also give it a certain tribute – to share all problems and threats. And so, Lithuania must not stay apart from the NATO and EU company in discussing and reacting to conflicts like that. I don’t think that staying aloof would be right.

They in Lithuania scare people with Russia

“They look at the Russian special services as at cockroaches in the kitchen” One of the key news in Lithuania last week was the renewed campaign against “the Russian threat.” Some experts link this with the coming elections into local authorities. Lietuvos Rytas appeared with an article “The Russian Intelligence is Expanding Its Network of Influence Agents in Lithuania.” “Russia has lost its influence in big states, but its Federal Security Service is trying to hold its force levers in the post-Soviet republics, particularly, in Lithuania. Its biggest victory after the revival of our independence was the discredit of Vitautas Landsbergis, the biggest defeat – the dismissal of Rolandas Paksas.” In saying this, the daily refers to the opinion of Antanas Pranskevicius, Professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences of Vilnius University. Once geologist, dissident, he later taught the history of the USSR and the Soviet special services in the United States.

In his interview Pranskevicius suggests a new concept – acting in Lithuania along with real agents are also “agents of influence.” They are not recruits, they may be even unaware they are agents at all. But being in the government they are working “for Russia.” Pranskevicius says that the Paksas story has shown who is who.

Commission on Ethics gives OK to the cartoons

After the appearance of the Mohamed cartoons in Respublika daily, the National Security Department has asked the Commission on Journalist and Editor Ethics to examine them. The commission has found no illegal and unethical action in Respublika’s reprinting the cartoons.

BNS reports the chairwoman of the commission Edita Zebene to say that the commission has decided that the cartoons do not kindle religious strife and do not run counter to the code of journalist and editor ethics – a document clearly banning the mockery of religious beliefs.

Earlier Iran officially protested against the reprinting of the Mohamed cartoons in Respublika. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry responded by expressing solidarity with Denmark in the cartoon scandal. The Lithuanian president and defense minister phoned their Danish counterparts to express their support. To remind, the Lithuanian peacekeepers in Iraq are part of the Danish corps. Experts say that Lithuania’s official support of Denmark might well have influenced the decision of the commission, who had previously been less tolerant to Respublika.

Bird flu: Lithuania puts all of its poultry in jail

They in Lithuania are not yet showing as big panic over the use of chicken as they in the other EU countries and, especially, in Italy are. But last week the State Food and Veterinary Service (SFVS) has banned keeping poultry under the open sky. Despite no reports of bird flu in the country, the service is enhancing security in the face of its looming spread in Europe, especially, in nearby countries such as Germany.

Lietuvos Radijas reports a ban to keep poultry in yards from Feb 20 to May 20. The director of the SFVS Kazimeras Lukauskas says that by preventing poultry from direct contact with wild birds one can prevent the spread of this extremely dangerous infection. SFVS inspectors will check compliance with the ban in regions and cities.

Non-complying poultry owners will face first a warning and then quite rigid sanctions – from a far from symbolical fine of 5,000 litas (5 average salaries) up to poultry annihilation.

The SFVS has set responsible persons to inspect the areas round-the-clock. Last weekend alone has heard 27 reports of dead wild birds. The director of the National Veterinary Laboratory Jonas Mulius says that they have examined over 500 wild birds and poultry and have found no bird flu yet. There was no bird flu in either the dead swan in Kaunas region or in the dead canard in Tialisiai, nor in the blackbird found dead in Miazeikiai region three weeks ago.

Ornithologists say that this year because of climatic conditions wild canards and swans are migrating earlier than usually. Many of them are flying via Lithuania. The SFVS is asking people to report it or other relevant services by phone of any dead bird they will see.

People are also being instructed on what to do with dead birds. They must not touch dead birds, are not recommended to hand-feed wild birds. Those who go to the countries with reported bird flu cases must not bring back any products containing fowl. Those abroad are recommended to avoid visiting bird’s markets, exhibitions, shops.

Lithuanian business looks towards Belarus

Lithuania is among the top ten investors in Belarus. The Ministry of Statistics reports the country to invest $11.94 mln in the Byelorussian economy in 2005, of which $2.52 mln were direct investments. The bilateral trade turnover totaled $486.4 mln (105.6% of 2004): the export — $351.8 mln (123.5%), the import — $134.6 mln (76.6%), the positive balance — $217.2 mln.

Among the CIS countries Lithuania has the 7^th biggest turnover, 6^th biggest export and 10^th biggest import with Belarus. Even though Lithuania is not very good with Lukashenko, Lithuanian businessmen are actively expanding into Belarus in search for new nearby markets. Lithuanian Ambassador to Belarus Petras Vaitekiunas says that Lithuanian businessmen are ready to invest serious money in the Byelorussian economy. “Big money is knocking at ‘your door,’” he says. (ELTA)

The most promising spheres are chemistry and construction. Underway are joint projects to produce furniture and glue for fiberboard. Vaitekiunas highly appreciates the potential of trade-economic relations and qualifies them as pragmatic.