Lithuania’s Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK) plans to review the initiative on banning business relations with Russia, as confirmed by the committee’s chairman Laurynas Kasčiūnas, as reported by Lithuanian public media LRT.
«We will soon have an NSGK meeting not only on this issue but also on the analysis of Russia’s participation in the market and Russia’s impact on our economy in general, as well as what we can do legislatively to control this impact,» he said.
Raimundas Lopata, a member of the Liberal Movement Group in the Seimas, was the first to propose legally prohibiting business relations with Russia, which Lithuania has declared a terrorist state.
He said Lithuania still has not developed a legal mechanism that would define relations between economic entities and private individuals with terrorist organisations and states. He said the purpose of this proposal is making things clear.
«Either the resolution that Russia is a terrorist state remains a slogan, or we are trying to implement that idea in our lives, both in foreign policy and in all other areas,» said Lopata.
«[The proposal] is focusing on legal regulations, mainly concerning the relations of our economic entities with a terrorist state. And attempts are being made to regulate these relations,» he added.
If the Lithuanian parliament passes this decision, local businesses will have three months to terminate business relations with Russia, said Lopata.
As reported by LRT, the opposition in the Seimas is very critical of this initiative. Members of the opposition believe business relations with Russia should not be regulated, since companies are responsible for that on their own.
«It’s a strange proposal to regulate businesses by law. It is up to the business to decide where it does business. It is its responsibility and a matter of its reputation,» said Lithuanian PM Saulius Skvernelis.
Full article available here: https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1741763/lithuanian-parliamentary-committee-mulls-banning-business-ties-with-russia