Brexit’s Ripple Effect: Lithuanian Foreign Minister on Impact to European Union
By Tony Maciulis
The outcome of a United Kingdom referendum to withdraw from the European Union is a victory for Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, Lithuania’s top diplomat told Yahoo News.
Linas Linkevicius, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said Russia views “the weakening of the EU as a victory for their side, but this is not the thinking we should follow.”
Linkevicius expressed concern about the Brexit vote and its potential impact on Lithuania and the other EU members. While the U.K. ranks seventh in terms of trade partners for his nation, an estimated 200,000 Lithuanians currently reside there after emigrating from the Baltic country. They face uncertainty and have expressed concerns about their ability to find work and affordable education if their current EU privileges are revoked in the U.K.
“They were also building part of the U.K. economy. It is now very popular to demonize some segments, but to (say) that all newcomers and all immigrants are a problem would be wrong, because this is the foundation of many countries including the U.K.,” Linkevicius told Yahoo News.
He went on to discuss the growing phenomenon of populist anger and anti-government sentiment in Europe and in the United States.
“Protest votes are not always rational,” he said, adding that he feels global political leaders need to find a new way to connect and communicate with their constituents.
On the U.S. election and the choice between former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Linkevicius expressed his desire that the U.S. will remain a strong ally regardless of the outcome, and that his nation will respect the will of the American people.
The Lithuanian diplomat also discussed the escalating tension with Russia and said his nation is losing the propaganda war. He urged other countries to take the rhetoric and state-run media messages from Putin’s government seriously, saying, “We are concerned about littering of oceans and organizing world summits, but littering of minds is not less of a detrimental thing.” Linkevicius also told Yahoo News that he believes Putin would consider “weaponizing” refugee communities in an effort to further destabilize the situation in Western Europe.
While he says there are many EU members who want the U.K. to reconsider its decision, clarity is what matters most at the moment, “not because of political comfort, but because the financial markets, everyone needs some stability because it has some impact — unfortunately negative, tangible — and we need to sort out this story as fast as possible.”
