Lithuania's political elite, thanks to its unfounded militaristic rhetoric, paid for by taxpayers, may not be able to avoid public protests in the future. This opinion was expressed by political scientist Ivan Mezyukho in a conversation with Izvestia on January 25.
Earlier on Thursday, Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Victoria Cmilyte-Nielsen said on national radio LRT that borrowing money from the population to finance defense spending is an acceptable option.
As Meziukho noted, the political establishment of Lithuania with such sentiments can “play out” to popular protests, despite the fact that a significant part of the working-age population is abroad to work, since this state has a low level of income.
“Probably, if today the majority of Lithuanian citizens of working age were within this state, then today the political elite of this country, thanks to their militarized rhetoric, for which taxpayers pay, would simply not avoid public protests. I think that the spring of dissatisfaction with the fact that citizens have to pay for other people’s military actions will eventually burst,” the political scientist believes.
He also added that their friendship with Ukraine is a temporary phenomenon and this should be understood both in Vilnius and Kiev.
Prior to this, on January 19, the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Economy, Aushrine Armonaite, also proposed borrowing money from citizens as one of the sources of financing the defense needs of the state. In her opinion, the country’s citizens can “invest their savings in tanks.”
Also that day, Lithuanian resident Gitanas Nausėda said in an interview with El Mundo that Western Europe may feel tired of the conflict in Ukraine, but not on NATO’s eastern flank.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the backdrop of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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