{"id":190081,"date":"2026-06-01T14:41:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T11:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/190081\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T14:42:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T11:42:00","slug":"poll-finds-lithuanians-evenly-divided-on-lifting-sanctions-against-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/190081\/","title":{"rendered":"Poll finds Lithuanians evenly divided on lifting sanctions against Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (LRT)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

June 1, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Lithuanian public opinion on sanctions against Belarus is evenly split, with 35 percent supporting a softening of some measures and 30 percent saying the sanctions should be maintained, according to a Baltijos tyrimai survey for LRT<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conducted between April 23 and May 7, the survey was conducted among 1000 residents of Lithuania over 18 years of age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the survey suggests that 17 percent support tightening the sanctions further, whereas only 11 percent feel that they should be dropped entirely. The data indicates that older age and left-leaning political views make people more likely to support easing the existing restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Political experts cited by LTR<\/em> agreed that there are no grounds for softening sanctions against the regime in Belarus, and that calls for a milder policy toward Minsk may be due to the \u201cUkraine war fatigue\u201d or \u201cpurposeful efforts to benefit certain political groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with LRT<\/em>, political analyst Vytis Jurkonis, head of Freedom House in Lithuania, said that the EU is firmer on sanctions against Belarus than the public opinion in Lithuania and will \u201cact as a safety valve.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[Alaksandar] \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s aggressive rhetoric, drones, military hardware deployed in the Belarusian territory, military drills, the abduction of Lithuanian citizens who are subsequently accused of espionage, and other provocations and hybrid threats \u2013 not to mention plans to build a third reactor at Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant in Astraviec and a radioactive waste dump right on the Lithuanian border \u2013 should be more than enough to clearly state that there are absolutely no grounds for changing the sanctions policy,” Jurkonis stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that decision-makers should also take into account the consequences of instrumentalized migration, disruptions to airport operations, and Belarus\u2019 support for the war against Ukraine, among other factors, while calculating the \u201cprice tag\u201d for lifting sanctions on Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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