“The Russian ambassador has been invited to leave Lithuania,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis announced on Twitter. Furthermore, it was decided to send the Lithuanian ambassador to Ukraine back to Kiev, Landsbergis explained in the post.
“The brutality of the Russian occupation forces exceeded all the norms of the civilized world,” Landsbergis said, according to the Baltic news agency BNS. “Unfortunately, what the world sees in Bucha may be just the beginning. As more cities are liberated, we may see more signs of horrific war crimes.”
Baltic states feel threatened by Russia
It is eagerly awaited whether Lithuania will be followed by other countries. After the massacre became known, top EU politicians promised more punitive measures against the Russian Federation. A diplomat’s declaration of “persona non grata” is one of the harshest sanctions in diplomatic relations. Heads of mission are rarely affected by this measure because it involves a downgrading of diplomatic relations. Because the Russian ambassador has to leave the country, Russia is only represented by a charge d’affaires in the neighboring country.
Like the other two Baltic republics, Estonia and Latvia, Lithuania feels threatened by Russian aggression in Ukraine. It is also the only EU country that also borders Russia to the west, namely the Kaliningrad enclave. This can only be reached from Russia by sea and air or via a land corridor through Lithuania. The Baltic republics regained their independence in the early 1990s after being occupied by the Soviet Union during World War II.