Lithuanian PM Stops Over in Tbilisi to Show Support
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas made a surprise stopover in Tbilisi and met with President Saakashvili on April 23, in what appeared to be a show of solidarity of Vilnius towards Georgia amid strained ties with Russia.
Lithuanian President, Valdas Adamkus, meanwhile, has sent a letter to EU and NATO leaders as well as to OSCE and UN expressing his concern over Russia’s moves in respect of Georgia’s breakaway regions.
“I do hope and encourage the UN, NATO, OSCE, and EU leadership collectively as well as EU and NATO Member States individually to maintain a strong focus on the unilateral steps by the Russian Federation, previously seen as a “facilitator” of the peace process in these conflicts,” President Adamkus said in the latter. “Moreover, it is important that the EU and NATO adopt a more ambitious approach towards Georgia.”
President Saakashvili told the visiting Lithuanian PM that Lithuania’s support was “very important” especially when Georgia “has to struggle for peace.”
“Our territories are bombed and de facto and de jure annexation of our territories is underway and it there is a documented evidence of this process,” Saakashvili said, according to his press office. “This is no longer just a political game, it is much more serious problem.”
