Opinions & Interviews

FM comments on Lithuania’s decision to refer Belarus to ICC

An archive photo

MINSK, 3 October (BelTA) – Lithuania has done another anti-Belarusian political stunt by referring Belarus to the International Criminal Court, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maksim Ryzhenkov told the media, BelTA has learned.

Maksim Ryzhenkov noted that he had recently commented on Belarus-Lithuania relations and laid out Belarus’ position on this matter. This position received an extensive and positive feedback from Lithuanians. According to the minister, people of Lithuania are tired of Vilnius’ short-sighted policy on Belarus that hurts the Lithuanian economy. At the same time, the reaction of the Lithuanian authorities was nervous and even hysterical. “Unfortunately, Lithuanian politicians did not say anything new in their respective statements,” the foreign minister remarked.

“Meanwhile, Lithuania has done another anti-Belarusian political move. The outgoing Lithuanian administration that has long been okay with using the dirtiest methods in violation of international law has decided to get West-controlled courts involved, though the biased nature of these judicial institutions has long been obvious to everyone,” the minister said.

According to him, Belarus knew about such plans of Vilnius for a long time. President Aleksandr Lukashenko said this publicly at an event dedicated to the Day of People’s Unity. “We are fully aware why this is being done and who is behind it. You don't have to be an acclaimed expert in international law to understand how absurd and ungrounded these accusations are. The efforts of Vilnius and their curators are futile. We are unfazed by this fuss and continue to call on our neighbors to be reasonable and sensible,” the foreign minister said.

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