Lithuania wants to take Russia to Court
Against the spirit of what is to be expected from the East Partnership summit in Riga, which is not much, Lithuania is calling upon the EU to take a stand for its partners in court.
Yesterday, the country that hosted the East Partnership so called “delivery summit,” in November 2013, made the case that it is no longer enough for EU member states not to recognize the Crimean secession. The War in Ukraine is a war in Ukraine, or so argue President Dalia Grybauskaite (TS-LKD), MEP Gabrielius Landsbergis, the leader of the Opposition, Andrius Kubilius, and shadow Ministers Audronius Azubalis and Rasa Jukneviciene. The legal case is straightforward: the breach the Minsk agreements. The Minsk agreement in not being honored and there are numerous international law and human rights violations, beginning with the Crimea.
Later this year, Lithuania’s temporary membership of the UN Security Council expires, which means Vilnius has exceptional leverage to initiate international legal proceedings and help Ukraine to demand compensation from Russia. The Lithuanian government believes that a UN resolution for the legal assessment of the case could pass with a simple majority of a 100 member states and would be consistent with the General Assembly’s resolution of 27 March 2014.
Estonia seems to second the proposal whilst the Estonian Foreign Minister, Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, advocated a visa-free regime for Ukraine to be granted in Riga. His assessment was that the technical and normative approximation processes was complete.