MEP Tomaszewski suggests Lithuania could have prevented war by not backing Belarusian protests

MEP Waldemar Tomaszewski says Vilnius made a mistake in supporting the democratic Belarusian opposition’s protests after the fraudulent 2020 presidential elections in the country. If Lithuania acted differently, the Russian war in Ukraine might not have happened at all, he suggests.

„A very big provocation started in 2020, after these elections. I was against, and I was attacked by Mr Tapinas (public activist and Laisvės TV host – ELTA0. We see now that it was a wrong political move on our part – we ourselves damaged this relationship [with Belarus – ELTA]. I will tell you more – Belarus has now lost some of its sovereignty. But we were guilty of supporting this revolution and a new border between Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. Maybe there would not have been a war, because a thousand kilometres of a new border was set up and [the aggression] as provoked,“ the leader of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania-Christian Families Alliance (LLRA-KŠS) told Žinių radijas on Tuesday.

„Maybe someone needs this war, people are dying and someone is doing business,“ Tomaszewski said, calling for steps to restore „normal relationship with the neighbour.“