Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Baltic Parliaments to attend the public hearings held by the U.S. Helsinki Commission

Press release 16 March 2022 

Laima Andrikienė, Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, is participating in the public hearings titled Game Changer: The Baltics Under Pressure held by the U.S. Helsinki Commission on 17 March 2022 at 4 p.m. (Lithuania time). Rihards Kols, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, and Marko Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, will also attend and speak at the hearings.

To watch the public hearings, which also include a Q&A session, please follow the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/HelsinkiCommission.

‘Democratic global order in recent decades has been greatly challenged by the autocratic regimes of Russia and China, which has had a huge impact on the security environment and brought a lot of tensions. 

Russia has been displaying military aggression towards its neighbours, violating international law and spreading instability in Eastern Europe and way beyond. For many years, the Baltic States have been trying to draw the whole world’s attention to Russia’s real intentions and its distorted perception of the world order. Russia’s revisionist policy cannot be defeated by making concessions or giving unilateral promises to reset the relations.

Whilst Russia remains the biggest and the most imminent conventional threat to the Baltic States, China is becoming a threat to our national security too. Putin’s regime uses military force to undermine the right and ability of sovereign states to determine their own national development, meanwhile China weaponises its cross-border economic and trade relations. China is eager to dominate rather than cooperate,’ says, Ms Andrikienė.

She stresses that ‘the current situation is a test for the whole democratic world of our ability to withstand economic coercion and deter China from using coercion as a foreign policy tool to advance its goals’.

In the opinion of the Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, ‘enhanced coordination of actions with international allies, including in the WTO, is needed to respond to economic coercion, find systemic long-term solutions, and send a message to China that such coercive actions will not be tolerated.’   

Following the interventions and debates at the Helsinki Commission, members of the Baltic Parliaments are scheduled to meet with  U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee; U.S. Senator James Risch, ranking member  of the Foreign Relations Committee; Congresswoman Betty McCollum, Chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; Congressman Ken Calvert, ranking member of  the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense; Congressman Gregory Meeks, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee; and Congressman Michael McCaul, Republican Leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

The agenda of the visit includes a meeting with Celeste Wallender, US Assistant Secretary of Defense, in Pentagon and a meeting with Ambassador Bi-Khim Hsiao, Head the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

On 18 March 2022 at 2.30 p.m. (Lithuania time), Ms Andrikienė, is also attending a public discussion with experts from the Atlantic Council. For more information on the discussion, please follow the link: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/baltic-perspectives-on-russia/.

The Board of the Seimas has seconded Ms Andrikienė to Washington D.C. on 16–19 March 2022.

Monika Kutkaitytė, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6666, e-mail: [email protected]