Lithuania urges regional sanctions as EU debate intensifies
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas is calling on countries in the region to jointly implement sanctions against Russia, emphasizing their effectiveness only when applied broadly.
Prime Minister Paluckas stressed that national sanctions will not replace EU ones, but they can be effective if implemented by other countries in the region. In an interview with the BNS agency, he suggested that Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland should join Lithuania in this effort.
If the countries in the region do not want or cannot make decisions regarding sanctions, then Lithuania alone will not achieve any goals and will only incur significant losses, the prime minister assessed.
The Lithuanian Seimas is working on extending the current national sanctions against Russia for another year. There are also plans to introduce economic restrictions against Russia and Belarus if they are not maintained at the EU level. The EU economic sanctions imposed on Russia expire on July 31, 2025.
During the extension of the EU restrictions, Hungary opposed them, raising concerns that a similar situation could arise in the future. The Lithuanian Seimas first imposed national sanctions on Russian and Belarusian citizens in 2023, and in 2024, these were updated and extended.
EU sanctions since 2022: Are they effective?
Since February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has adopted 16 sanction packages against Russia. These involve both specific individuals and economic sectors, as well as companies operating in both Russia and Belarus.
The European Union is intensifying its actions against Russia, preparing the 17th sanction package. Elina Valtonen, Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, noted that the sanctions are already having a significant impact on the Russian economy.
Valtonen emphasized that Russia is struggling with rising inflation, which she considers proof of the effectiveness of EU sanctions. We would like to encourage Russians to transform their society into a true democracy. We will be their partners, her words were quoted by PAP.
