US envoy meets with Lithuanian FM before expected trip to Minsk
September 14, Pozirk. US Special Envoy John Coale has met with Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys in Vilnius ahead of his expected trip to Minsk, where he is expected to seek the release of 200 to 300 political prisoners. Coale is scheduled to meet with Alaksandar Łukašenka on September 15.
“We highly appreciate the United States’ leadership and efforts taken by it to return freedom to people who were imprisoned illegally because of their convictions and civic activity,” the Lithuanian foreign ministry quoted Budrys as saying.
He pledged support for the US humanitarian effort to free political prisoners and stressed Vilnius’s “principled position on human rights violations, regional security and the Belarusian regime’s responsibility for hostile actions against neighboring states.”
He denounced repression against civil society in Belarus, the country’s support for Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and its assistance to Moscow in putting military pressure on the West.
The two diplomats also discussed irregular migration from Belarus, with Budrys noting a rise in incidents at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border this summer.
Budrys said tunnels used for smuggling migrants could not be constructed without the knowledge of Belarusian authorities. He accused Minsk of using migration as a tool to pressure the European Union.
During his previous visit to Minsk in March, Coale secured the release of 250 political prisoners. Fifteen were taken out of the country, while the rest were allowed to stay in Belarus. In return, Washington lifted some sanctions, including those on potash companies.
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