Grybauskaitė on Putin: “He has entered the stage where he will have to fight until the end of his life”

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in 2024 May 1st marks an important milestone for Lithuania – the twentieth anniversary of joining the European Union (EU). President of the conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the EU “Lithuania in the European Union: 20 years of membership experiences and perspectives” D. Grybauskaitė spokethat joining the EU brought a completely different experience, it was necessary to adapt to a completely different world.

“Of course, the most prominent is the period when it is the most difficult, when you learn, when it is very important, that was the period before membership. This is the period when it was necessary to learn to negotiate, when it was necessary to learn what Europe is in general, to learn how to behave.

I visited Sweden for the first time somewhere in 1991, it seems, and when you had to go to the prime minister’s office, for example, sitting down to talk to his adviser and it was lunch and when there were four tools on the left, four on the right and four on the top and when you don’t understand how and what to do with them . The year 1991, you remember, those who remember it was empty in Lithuania, there is nothing in the shops, we don’t need any four tools for our food ration,” he said. D. Grybauskaite.

The President added that the first decade in the EU was the most memorable, when it was necessary to study a lot, work and a lot was new.

“Then it was difficult, I remember one time a minister, I won’t say which one, of foreign affairs, when I had to work with foreign countries and all projects and when you needed that, yes, the third one, he said, you might also need a plane, so I say if you need it for work, it is needed. It was 1991, you can imagine what kind of plane or helicopter it could be,” the president joked.

D. Grybauskaitė claimedthat negative things are forgotten over time.

“Only what is good and emotion remains. And you don’t even get angry at those who once annoyed you or interfered with work, now everyone seems cool and everyone is good.

So if sometimes you think that I remember something and get angry, it’s really not”, said D. Grybauskaitė.

Grybauskaitė: I am sure that Ukraine will be accepted into the EU

D. Grybauskaitė said that development is important for international geopolitical organizations, but it depends on the political, economic, and security dynamics in Europe.

“There is no doubt that the development will depend on how the war will be conducted, what will be its results,” the president asserted.

She added that most likely The issue of EU enlargement will depend on political decisions.

“Ukraine, I’m sure, will be accepted, only, obviously, one of the biggest, which means the most expensive countries to integrate, if we don’t change some of our policies, like agriculture, for example, or get a transition period, like we have until now the same benefits after 20 years.

But politically, I already think that most European countries at least understand that Ukraine is a security guarantor for us and it will contribute to the economic potential after the war, but we still have to survive that period,” said the interviewer.

D. Grybauskaitė emphasized that the fact that the war caused by Russia continues in Ukraine for the third year is largely the fault of the West.

“The fact that Ukraine has been at war for the third year is an indicator that everything is too late – not only the last package, but our reaction in general is late, insufficient,” D. Grybauskaitė told reporters on Friday.

D. Grybauskaitė added that the degree of integration will probably decrease as the EU expands.

“The EU will have and will turn into both a defense and a security organization, whether we like it or not. Not only will Putin help us do this, but America will also help us do this.

The elections in the USA, no matter how they end, they will not end very well in relation to Europe, because quite objectively the American society is divided, opinions and the desire to close the continent will deepen and increase for at least the next few decades, so indeed Europe will have to take on more and more responsibilities not only for its economic dignity, but , of course, and for their own safety,” said the president.

Grybauskaitė: Westerners’ attitude towards Russia has hardly changed

Speaking about Russia, D. Grybauskaitė said that the attitude of other countries towards this country has hardly changed.

“I now travel a lot, I have a lot of invitations to participate in conferences in various countries and speak mainly on the topic of security, and not only at conferences, but also at various forums, and so on.

In fact, when you go a little further from our border, believe me, there is no war. Everyone wants to live in peace, in peace, and they are pushing us all to peace talks, and you stop fighting here. Well, the Scandinavians have settled in, because they have sea platforms and the northern border in the Arctic, and we really think very similarly about security challenges with the Scandinavians now,” said the president.

She added that only we, Poland and Scandinavia are thinking about security challenges, while East Germany, for example, is just waiting for the end of the war.

“There is no war there, they don’t feel it, and they still think of Russia as a country with which it is possible and necessary to communicate and talk after it stops behaving badly.

This is the type of child who misbehaves now but will be a good child again. That’s the problem here, when you drive, you talk, but you still can’t convince, because in fact they don’t understand that Russia doesn’t know if it can change radically, that it’s a challenge in terms of security for Europe and it will be all the time, because Russia is imperialist the state”, said D. Grybauskaitė.

“In general, Putin will no longer be able to go to war for the rest of his life”

She added that the majority of Russian society is ideologically oriented and supports an aggressive approach to the West, so the confrontation is just beginning and growing.

“It will not be possible for Putin to go to war now for the rest of his life.” He has entered the stage where he will have to fight for the rest of his life, no matter who, whether it is Ukraine, whether it is anyone else, it does not matter who. But he will not be able to ideologically support his people in any other way,” said D. Grybauskaitė.

She added that there is no other way for V. Putin to support and unite people in Russia, except for imperialist confrontation with the West.

“Our job is to work with our partners, because talking is not enough,” the president asserted.

D. Grybauskaitė asserted that if a cold war-type confrontation takes place, North Korea, Iran, and China will join it, which was not the case in the first cold war, so the risks are significantly higher than before.

“When I was the first European politician in 2014 to say that Russia has the signs of a terrorist state, I was attacked everywhere, and political scientists in Lithuania shot me down, and my colleagues in the West looked and said that there are problems with the maturity of the state, that we are reacting too fiercely to Russia.

So when I meet Hilary Clinton now, she says, Dalia, well, you were right about Russia. I say, well, Hilary, I was right then, and why don’t you listen to what I say now?” said D. Grybauskaitė.

The President said that the most important countries for Lithuania are Northern Europeans, Poland due to security threats and Germany due to economic aspects.