This is a popular topic among some voters, especially in eastern Lithuania, particularly since President Donald Trump established contacts with Lukashenko’s regime. There are limits to what Mindaugas Sinkevičius and his team can achieve here. “Resumption of the transit of Belarusian fertilizers via our country would be the ultimate gain for the cabinet,” according to a retired senior Lithuanian government official.
“But in April, the EU much more closely aligned its 20th anti-Russian sanctions package with sanctions against Minsk. Unless the US makes some unexpected move in Belarus, not much will change.” Another potential foreign policy sphere where change is possible is relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The Taiwan Office Dilemma
Lithuania is the only European country where a “Taiwan Representative Office” operates. China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and is extremely sensitive to terminology. Only twelve states, including the Holy See, maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan at the embassy level. Dozens of de facto embassies of the “Republic of China” — Taiwan’s historic constitutional name — operate across five continents, but the regime in Beijing insists that they should be labeled “Taipei Representative Office” to avoid recognizing the sovereignty of the island nation.
A plaque at the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius. Photo: Stringer
Since the Lithuanian government of conservative and liberal parties, now in opposition, opened the Taiwan office in 2021 in response to China’s growing interference in Lithuanian politics and security-related matters, relations with the PRC have steadily deteriorated. Today, no Chinese diplomats are posted to Vilnius, and Lithuania has none in Beijing.