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Grybauskaite: Russia continues to act as an aggressor

BC, Vilnius, 31.07.2015.Print version
Sanctions against Russia, which were introduced one year ago, have proven to be efficient and sent very clear signals in Russia and in the international arena, says Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, stressing that Russia continues to act as an aggressor, reports LETA/ELTA.

"I am glad that a year ago the European Union was unanimous about responding to Russia's aggression and stated its moral position very clearly: violence, war instigation, and occupation of foreign territories cannot be tolerated and will never be tolerated. This was a very clear political and diplomatic message, assessment of Russia's actions," the president said in an interview to the national radio LRT.

 

According to Grybauskaite, the sanctions brought consequences: Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight (G8), the closest Kremlin policy makers – officials, servicemen, separatists – were denied entry to the EU, their bank accounts were frozen, etc.

 

The president points to the fact that Russia is getting more and more isolated, as, for example, Russia on Wednesday was the only country to veto the UN Resolution on Tribunal for Malaysia Airlines Crash in Ukraine. In the view of Grybauskaite, this shows that "Russia continues to act as an aggressor which disregards the lives and fates of its people".

 

The impact on the EU from the imposed by Russia embargo Grybauskaite called "relatively small" – the European Union will partly compensate the losses, especially in the early days, when it was difficult to adjust. Now, according to the president, the meat and dairy business in Lithuania is finding the new markets. At the beginning of the Russian embargo, the Lithuanian carriers suffered a lot, but now, according to the latest statistics, this industry is one of the fastest growing. Decline in GDP of Lithuania, D. Grybauskaite synchronized with the overall downturn in the Russian economy.






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