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Mariusz Antonowicz: Lithuania, Poland can Freeze 'Nord Stream-2' Together

Mariusz Antonowicz: Lithuania, Poland can Freeze 'Nord Stream-2' Together
MARIUSZ ANTONOWICZ
PHOTO: JOANNA BOŻERODSKA

The strategic union of the two states strengthens the EU and the eastern flank of NATO.

Lithuania celebrated the 100th anniversary of the restoration of its independence the other day. Poland's President Andrzei Duda took part in the solemn events. How will the Polish-Lithuanian relations develop, taking into consideration new geopolitical challenges which both countries face?

Lithuania political analyst Mariusz Antonowicz answered the questions of Charter97.org:

- What does the day of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of own independence mean to Lithuania?

- First of all, this is the Day of the restoration of Lithuania's modern statehood. All this demonstrates that despite the hard historical past, the Soviet and the German occupations, the idea of the Lithuanian statehood is living and developing.

- Can we say that the holiday was successfully used for the promotion of Lithuania as a state at the global level?

- So far, in my opinion, it's too early to talk about this, as the celebrations have just begun and it is only possible to determine how they affected the country's popularity in the world at the end of this year. Nevertheless, even if some strategy for popularizing the country with the help of this holiday exists, let me doubt that it will prove to be effective.

Firstly, the entire official program for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of independence was prepared with considerable delay, the organizers had to contend with the lack of financial resources. Secondly, the society argued a lot about how much the program corresponds to the level of celebration - for example, the disputes around the memorial on the Lukiškės Square in Vilnius or the monument to Dr. Jonas Basanavicius.

On the other hand, Lithuania is a member of the European Union and NATO and is a player in global politics. Therefore, even without any special efforts, Lithuania in these days will enjoy attention in the world media. Also, I would not ignore the public initiatives being carried out now to advertise Lithuania and disseminate information about the centennial of the restoration of Lithuania's independence. The last days show that such initiatives were unexpectedly numerous and that they are quite able to make advertising for the country no worse than government agencies, and, perhaps, even better.

- What does the 3-day visit of Poland's President Andrzei Duda mean?

- Taking into account the complicated Polish-Lithuanian relations in 1918, the visit of the Polish President to Vilnius for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the restoration of Lithuania's independence once again shows that at the political level the states have no misunderstandings. In my opinion, this is a very big success, which we often forget. It also means that Lithuania and Poland continue to be important political allies.

- Does it mean that the Polish-Lithuanian relations started rapidly improving? In which fields can the countries successfully cooperate?

- Now that the visit has already taken place, we can safely say that we are witnessing an improvement in the Polish-Lithuanian relations.

Naturally, this is very strongly influenced by the geopolitical situation - the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Another factor that has influenced is the agreement between PKN Orlen (a Polish company that owns an oil refinery in Mazeikiai) with the Lithuanian Railways. Thanks to this, it became possible to further develop cooperation in the field of energy between the two countries.

I would also like to note that Lithuania refrains from taking steps that could affect the position of the Polish minority, and the Polish President believes that only through dialogue the problems of the Polish minority in Lithuania can be solved.

I think that thanks to this situation, Lithuania and Poland will achieve in the short term the realization of such geopolitical goals as delay in the construction of the Nord Stream-2 project, synchronization of Lithuania's energy networks with Western Europe, and strengthening of the eastern flank of NATO.

Summing up, I would like to note that even greater success is possible if the situation of the Polish minority begins to improve. In this case, the results of joint cooperation can be even more impressive, for example, effects could be achieved in the eastern policy of the EU, especially with regard to Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia. On the other hand, thanks to the strategic partnership between Lithuania and Poland, cooperation between all countries of the Baltic region could be strengthened, Sweden and Finland could be closer to NATO.

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