LONDON
Lithuania’s chief presidential adviser has criticized former German Chancellor Angela Merkel over her recent comments on the Baltic states, accusing her of trying to justify past mistakes in policy toward Russia.
Asta Skaisgiryte said Merkel appeared to be defending her government’s approach to Moscow after suggesting that Poland and the Baltic states pushed Russia into diplomatic isolation, Lithuanian broadcaster LRT reported.
Speaking to local radio station Ziniu Radijas on Tuesday, Skaisgiryte said Lithuania and its regional allies were right to oppose the Minsk agreements, a series of international accords aimed at ending the war in Donbas between Russian-backed separatist groups and Ukrainian forces.
“Indeed, neither the Baltic states nor Poland supported the Minsk agreements. Merkel was completely right about that — we did not support them,” she said.
Skaisgiryte added that history had proven their position correct, saying: “Of course, the former German chancellor, who was quite active in the process at the time, probably wants to justify the mistake she made.”
Merkel, in a recent interview with the Hungarian YouTube channel Partizan, said the Baltic states and Poland contributed to the deterioration of relations between Europe and Russia.
She added that by 2021 she realized Moscow no longer took the Minsk accords seriously and sought a new European Union dialogue format with Russian President Vladimir Putin — an idea opposed by Poland and the Baltic states.
For Skaisgiryte, however, the Minsk agreements “led truly nowhere” except to renewed military escalation, remarks that reflect growing regional criticism of Merkel’s past Russia policy.