Žygimantas Pavilionis, Deputy Chair of the Committee on European Affairs: no concessions or corridors for Putin, whose regime must be defeated during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Press release, 11 July 2022 (more news)

On 10–11 July, Žygimantas Pavilionis, Deputy Chair of the Committee on European Affairs of the Seimas, took part in the meeting of the Chairs of the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for European Union Affairs (COSAC) held in Prague. The meeting was dedicated to discussing the priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the challenges of media freedom and democracy in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Mr Pavilionis congratulated the Czech Republic on the continuation of the work started by France and on the ambitious presidency programme focussed on Ukraine.

The politician noted that Lithuania strongly supported the ongoing discussions on the restoration of the assistance to Ukraine by linking investment with Ukraine’s European integration. ‘We need to strengthen the EU’s resilience in order to be prepared for the current and future crises, as well as to strengthen our defense capabilities, boost the EU economy, and reform our energy system in order to eliminate dependence on Russian hydrocarbons and raw materials as soon as possible,’ the Lithuanian representative said. He emphasized the need for increased military and economic assistance to Ukraine on the road to the EU and invited the Chairs of the EU Member States’ European Affairs Committees to join the United for Ukraine (U4U) Parliamentary Platform and the upcoming U4U visit to Kiev.

Mr Pavilionis also called on the Czech Presidency to deepen relations of the Community as a whole with Taiwan: ‘If we have formally identified China as a strategic adversary, then let us all leave the splitting and anti-European format 16+1, and develop deeper relations with Taiwan as well as the entire democratic Indo-Pacific region,’ he said.

Mr Pavilionis stressed that the fight against disinformation and the Kremlin war propaganda had to remain an integral part of our response to Russian aggression against Ukraine. ‘Lithuania is the target of active disinformation: hostile actors are trying to undermine our support for Ukraine, inciting hatred between local communities and war refugees, threatening economic collapse. The latest example of such disinformation was an attempt to accuse Lithuania of blocking transit to the Kaliningrad region. The increase in the flow of Russian disinformation against Lithuania was observed every time the EU considered imposing additional sanctions against Russia,’ Mr Pavilionis said. He also stressed that the best response in such cases was the unity and solidarity of the EU: ‘We do not have to and cannot open any corridors to Putin in the context of the EU sanctions regime, because it will only encourage the Kremlin to further its aggression, this time on the territory of the EU,’ he said.

The politician welcomed the joint statement by Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė and Marija Golubeva, Chairs of the Committees on European Affairs of the Latvian and Lithuanian Parliaments, on the need to resist foreign interference in democratic elections in EU Member States, supported and signed by Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, , France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Georgia, Slovenia and Ukraine.

COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs) is a six-monthly conference of the European Affairs Committees of the national parliaments of the Member States of the European Union and Members of the European Parliament organised by the Parliament of the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU. This conference promotes the exchange of information and best practices between the national parliaments and the European Parliament.

The LXVIII COSAC plenary session will take place from 13 to 15 November 2022.

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU from 1 July to 31 December 2022 focuses on five closely interlinked priority areas: the refugee crisis and reconstruction of Ukraine; energy security; European defence capabilities and cybersecurity; economic resilience, and the resilience of democratic institutions. The Czech Presidency’s moto is ‘Europe as a task: rethink, rebuild, repower.’

Aistė Pikiotienė, Adviser to the Office of the Committee on European Affairs, tel. +370 5 239 6864