A member of the Russian legislature, the Duma, has drafted a bill foreseeing revocation of Russia’s recognition of Lithuania’s independence in 1991.
Yevgeny Fedorov, an off-kilt member of the State Duma and President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party, has submitted a draft law, saying that the Soviet Union State Council’s resolution «On Recognising the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania» was illegal.
Lithuania’s Foreign Minister stated that Lithuania should react «accordingly» and be ready to defend itself and together with its partners.
«Only a state ruled by beasts could start a war similar to the one started by Russia. I’m not surprised that politics is not done according to human norms. And we have to react accordingly — to be ready to defend ourselves and together with our partners, politically, diplomatically or by other means,» Landsbergis commented the Russian MP’s initiative to Lithuanian media.
Vytautas Dumbliauskas, associate professor of Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, is not surprised by the Russian MP’s stunt-like announcement.
«Russia has proved plentifully that it is evil and nothing good can be expected from it. Particularly now, with the war raging in Ukraine. Unlike Latvia and Estonia, we have a very weak link – literally. I mean the Suwalki corridor, as well the lengthy border with Belarus,» Vytautas Dumbliauskas told BNN.
Rimvydas, Valatka, a prominent Lithuanian analyst, likened the Russian MP to «a wolf in a pack of wolves on the leash of the cunning and callous madman (Putin – L. J.).
«Note, it is an initiative of a single Russian Duma member. I’d be more worried if many others – and their Foreign minister – supported it,» the analyst told BNN.
In the explanatory note, Fedorov said the Russian Federation was recognised as the legal successor of the Soviet Union. He also noted that in March 1991, a referendum was held in Russia, expressing support in preserving the Soviet Union as a single state.
But in September the same year, the Soviet Union State Council, chaired by Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, adopted a resolution «On Recognising the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania». Fedorov claimed the resolution was illegal.
The draft bill follows a May resolution by the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, recognising Russia’s war against Ukraine as genocide and Russia as a terrorist state.
Lithuania declared independence in March 1990. Months later in January 1991, Soviet forces attempted to overthrow the government.
«I think that Russia cannot wait when something bad happens to the Moscow-Kaliningrad train on the way through the Lithuanian territory to the exclave (Kaliningrad is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland – L. J.) God forbid, I am afraid any disruption of the service – even due to technical reasons – would trigger Russia’s unpredictable hostility. Who can be sure that the route is provocation free? I am not,» Dumbliauskas emphasised to BNN.
In the wake of the war, Lithuania’s Transport Minister Marius Skuodis said Lithuania cannot unilaterally cut off railway transit between mainland Russia and the exclave of Kaliningrad, because this is an agreement between the European Union and Russia.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has told foreign press she will not «overreact» to discussions in the Russian parliament about revoking Moscow’s recognition of Lithuania’s independence, dismissing the apparent threat as «nonsense».
Speaking with Newsweek on the sidelines of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit in the Danish capital on Friday, Šimonytė said she was more concerned by President Vladimir Putin’s apparent imperial ambitions than with the actions of fringe members of the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.
«I think we should not overreact to this, because it’s a particular member of the Duma, very particular even for United Russia,» Šimonytė said. «Even legally, this is nonsense,» Šimonytė explained. «We have different sets of agreements that established the relations between the Lithuanian state and Russian Federation.»
«What he’s trying, it’s the same as if I asked my parliament to revoke some treaty of the 17th century that was made between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and what was Moscow at that time,» the prime minister explained.
«I think it’s an overreaction to speak a lot about it. I think It was much more interesting listening to what Putin was saying about Peter the Great.»
Russia’s president was meeting young scientists and entrepreneurs last week when he made the remark about Peter the Great: «You might think he was fighting with Sweden, seizing their lands,» Putin said, referring to the Northern Wars which Peter launched at the turn of the 18th Century as he forged a new Russian Empire. «But he seized nothing; he reclaimed it!» he said, arguing that Slavs had lived in the area for centuries.
The comment has triggered an uproar.
Matas Maldeikis, a Lithuanian MP, said before the revocation amid the rumours of such an attempt: «If Russia revokes her 1991 recognition of Lithuania’s independence, Lithuania will revoke the 1634 Treaty of Polyanovka and demand that Putin submits to the authority of Władysław IV and returns all occupied territories to the Grand Duchy. Smolensk is Lithuania».
Fedorov previously questioned the legitimacy of Lithuania’s independence in 2015. At the time, he and another Duma deputy, Anton Romanov, wrote a letter to the Russian prosecutor’s office, saying that Lithuania’s independence had been recognised by an «unconstitutional body».
The prosecutor’s office then launched an investigation, which was decried as «a legal, moral, and political absurdity» by the then Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius.
Fedorov is serving his fourth term in the State Duma. His office is said to be adorned with many of the accoutrements of a hardcore Russian patriot: a model Proton rocket, a portrait of a young Vladimir Putin, a Novorossia mug, and a St. George flag.
In early April, Lithuania expelled Russia’s ambassador to Vilnius and recalled its ambassador to Moscow.
The Lithuania government has also decided to close the Russian Consulate in the port city of Klaipėda.
«Lithuania is lowering the level of diplomatic representation with Russia, this way expressing its full solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, who are suffering from Russia’s unprecedented aggression,» Foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis explained the move then.