Posted on 10/08/2006 1:07:25 PM PDT by lizol
Lithuania, Russia 'expel diplomats'
Oct 8, 2006, 18:04 GMT
Vilnius - Lithuania has expelled a Russian diplomat and Russia intends to expel a Lithuanian in retaliation, media sources in Lithuania reported on Sunday.
The high-ranking Russian, a diplomat working in Vilnius, was expelled on suspicion of espionage and trying to influence Lithuania's support of Georgia in its current dispute with Russia, according to reports by the Lithuanian national radio and Baltic News Service BNS.
Russia intends to expel a Lithuanian diplomat in retaliation, the news services added. Neither the Lithuanian nor Russian foreign ministries have yet commented on the reports.
Lithuania, a NATO member since 2004, has come out strongly in support of Tbilisi in its current dispute with Moscow, which began when Georgian police arrested four Russian military officers as spies in late September.
The four were later handed over to OSCE observers, but Moscow then severed all transport links to Georgia and expelled more than 100 Georgian citizens, a move the Georgian foreign minister likened to 'ethnic cleansing.'
Ping
Makes sense if and only if they do not accredit a replacement: it is more trouble to keep track on a new kegebun than to have one fewer kegebun to keep an eye on.
The quicker that Russians,both the powerful and the powerless,realize that they live in a Third World country the better for the cause of world peace.
The CIS and Baltic press on Russia
Not part of GUAM, and not reported above, so this is good news!
Thank you, Lithuania.
Seems like russia is still a poor neighbor to ALL its neighbors.
"According to Lithuania media reports, in the first days of the Georgian-Russian conflict, only the right-wing Lithuanian politicians voiced support of Saakashvili action. For example, head of the rightist Union of Fatherland Andrius Kubilius called Lithuanian political herd to express solidarity with Georgia and take “concrete action” in the context of her conflict with Russia.
However, recently already most high-ranking Lithuanian officials one after another made statements of open support of Georgia and implied condemnation of Russia’s conduct. Moreover, it was exactly president of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus who suddenly initiated a “support phone call” to Saakashvili from Lvov where Lithuanian, Polish, and Ukrainian presidents were meeting.
The presidents of the three nations gathered Sep 30 in Lvov to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the “capital of the Western Ukraine.” Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus, however, got there an idea to call the Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili on behalf of the troika and thereby express support to his confronting Russia in the situation when neither the US nor the main EU countries had voiced any direct support at the top level.
“The West is in no hurry to interfere, and Vilnius…” – says Lithuanian web portal geopolitica.lt. “Moscow’s irritation is caused by the action of the ‘historical triumvirate.’” Presidents of Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine Valdas Adamkus, Lech Kaczynski, and Viktor Yushchenko voiced last Saturday support of the Georgia’s conflicting with Russia." By doing that, a commentator upholds, the three states wanted to demonstrate a common position on the issue and, at the same time, draw attention of the world community to the situation.
Speaking at a press conference, Valdas Adamkus said: “We wanted to show that at least three states in the region are unanimous on the issue. We also wanted to point out that the created tension should be resolved by way of a dialog and attract attention of international organizations. Georgia has a right to defend interests, being guided by her legislation, and to demonstrate by that that she is not a side that wants to create a turmoil in the region.”
As The Guardian commented on the events, such “moral support” is of vital importance to Tbilisi. The geopolitica.lt portal remarks on the phrasing: “For M. Saakashvili it sounds as a call to take even more active effort on the way of entering NATO, which is supposed to become a certain umbrella protecting from Moscow’s expansion in the region. A different, although maybe a rhetorical question is, did Vilnius need to ‘pull the lion’s whiskers?’”
My personal commentary - Georgia wants international peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and had one failure already to obtain them. This is at least partly about helping to up the request.
Rosh doesn't get along well with her neighbors, does she?
This is becoming a weekly and sometimes daily event. Russia does'nt understand equal diplomacy it seems,and its sad that so many Russsians support these idiots in power. They are the imperialist power not the US. If russia had a grade school report card the teacher would always put a check mark in the "Does not get along well with others" box. :)
Very true.
Vilnius (and Moscow, for that matter) have been nests of spies since the days of the Cold War. Most Lithuanians probably see this as page B6 news.
Putin is dumber than he looks - petro prices are plummeting and he's gonna be the one out in the cold this winter.
Well, in my day I've been to both places [in Moscow I even grew up], and if anything, I'd say that spying paranoia is more fitting part of Moscow description.
It's Lietuvas, with an s.
And yes, go Lithuania!!
what? Lietuva,I sure hope my Lugan teacher doesn't see this.
whose? Lietuvos,
to whom? Lietuvai
"specific" what? Lietuva (the 'a' with a 'tail')
with what? Lietuva
where? Lietuvoje
Oh...sorry I only know a little bit of Lithuanian :)
That's good. Any is some!
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