Cross posted from: https://feddit.de/post/11465777
There is a “stark difference of opinion between countries like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic as compared to western European countries such as France or Germany”, writes Viktoriia Lapa from the Institute for European Policymaking at the Bocconi University in Italy, arguing that “westsplaining” still prevails in the European Union.
“By 2022, Russia had launched a full-scale attack against Ukraine. Words of support came from every direction but concrete support was less forthcoming. During the first days of the war, Germany refused to send weapons to Ukraine and even prevented Estonia from sending its old howitzer artillery weapons by withholding approval,” Lapa writes.
“Lithuania, meanwhile, along with Latvia, Estonia and Poland, were sounding the alarm about the threat the situation posed to the rest of the region and called for Europe to support Ukraine “with every means available”. For many in the region, Europe should commit unambiguously to helping Ukraine win the war.”
“Until recently, even French president Emmanuel Macron was suggesting that Ukraine should compromise on some of its sovereignty to accommodate Putin’s demands. Such comments were coldly received in Baltic and eastern European states.”
“When Macron changed his strategy to say that he did not rule out sending troops to Ukraine, he faced backlash from several European capitals. However, he found an ally in Lithuania.”
“In a positive sign of recognition, EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen mentioned in her annual state of the union address in 2022: ‘We should have listened to the voices inside our union – in Poland, in the Baltics, and all across central and eastern Europe.’”
Wow, that closing bit:
An EU official, granted anonymity to speak freely, said that the idea of Kallas serving as the EU’s top diplomat “remains sensitive” in some EU capitals.
“I don’t see France and Germany agreeing to that, because of the same reasons she was not an option for the NATO job,” the official said. “Are we really putting someone who likes to eat Russians for breakfast in this position?”
If I were a betting man, I’d wager that this particular anonymous source might be suspiciously friendly and deferential with Russia because they’re on the take. They’ve uncovered more than a bit of that stuff in the EU recently.
Kudos to the anonymous source for saying the quiet bit out loud to a journalist
Lithuania instead built its own liquefied natural gas terminal, named “independence”, which allowed it to break from its dependence on Russian gas.
Independence is not the name of the terminal, it’s the name of the ship used to transport gas. The terminal is called “Klaipėda Liquefied Gas Terminal”
They also do not highlight the difference between Vytautas Landsbergis (the grandfather) and Gabrielius Landsbergis (the grandson). They are an important political family with a large group of people who openly dislike them for destroying the Soviet Union, botched collective farms and constant fearmongering about Russian aggression.
Discussion about what effects that family had on the country are one of the best ways to start a fight in Lithuania, but they were still right about Russia.
