{"id":116373,"date":"2024-12-02T18:27:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T15:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/116373\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"lithuanian-officials-vow-to-support-belarusians-regardless-of-who-is-in-power","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/116373\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian politicians vow to support Belarusians regardless of who is in power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

December 2, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Lithuanians’ desire and determination to help pro-democracy Belarusians stems from an understanding of the closeness of the two peoples’ historical roots and cultures, said Juozas Olekas, first deputy chairman of the Lithuanian parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olekas spoke at a Belarusian-Lithuanian conference in Vilnius, held by the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By supporting pro-democracy Belarusians, Lithuania and politicians in Europe and international institutions are trying to achieve “a certain stability in the region and a more positive future,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There cannot be a safe, democratic Lithuania and Europe if there is a dictatorial regime nearby, which disregards its own people and serves Russian imperialism,” the Lithuanian lawmaker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“On the one hand, we sincerely want to help. On the other hand, it is in our own interests to have a safe and positive outlook,” Olekas explained. “This is the main driver of our activity for the sake of a democratic Belarus, regardless of which party rules in Lithuania.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

R\u016bstis Kamuntavi\u010dius, director of the Institute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, said that Lithuania will continue to support Belarusians under the new government, or even step up this support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“From our standpoint, a strong Belarus is not even a matter of Belarus but a matter of our survival,” he said. “Belarus is important to us not only politically, but also culturally, in terms of our identity. It is our closest neighbor. If Belarus disappears, part of our body will disappear and the organic connection will be destroyed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, according to Kamuntavi\u010dius, Lithuanians know very little about Belarus. “Of course, we can say that we all know little about our neighbors, but in this geopolitical context, when there are so many stereotypes and little knowledge in society, conflict situations arise,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, the professor and his colleagues have been spreading positive information about Belarusians in Lithuanian society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Somehow we have a lot of negative information about Belarus in Lithuanian,” he said. “We would like to offset that. My colleagues and I discuss spreading more of the available information and knowledge about how much good the Belarusians have done to us during the thousand years of our relations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Lithuanians don’t know about it. And when you don’t know, you are prone to stereotype manipulation,” Kamuntavi\u010dius noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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