Vilnius multiplies his positions against Beijing, while his two balet neighbors, traditionally united, remain cautious.
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“17 + 1”, they went to “16 + 1”: In May, Vilnius slammed the door of the group launched by Beijing in 2012, and composed so far from 17 countries in central Europe and the Balkans, including 11 members of the European Union (EU). Two months earlier, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, felt that this format – which is part of the “new routes of silk” – “was not useful for Europe” only “divide”.
Since, Vilnius multiplies positions, considered provocations by Beijing. In May, his parliament condemned the “Ouity Genocide” in the Xinjiang. In August, a Taiwan representation office opened in the Lithuanian capital, aroused a diplomatic crisis: China, which does not tolerate the “Taipei representation offices”, recalled its ambassador and referred that of Lithuania.
For the moment, neither Estonia nor Latvia follow, even if the two Baltic States have also shunted the last summit of “17+ 1 “On February 9, being represented by ministers at this virtual meeting, attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping. “We prefer to use the EU 27 + 1 format and contact China via European common policies,” said Kaja Kallas spokesperson, Estonian Prime Minister.
“We have not been have seen that the stick “
At the origin of this shared frilosity: a disappointment born of undefended promises. If the Baltic countries have joined the Sino-European Cooperation Forum, “it was for purely economic grounds,” recalls Aleksandra Berzina-Cerenkova, researcher at the Latvian Institute of International Affairs. Beijing had shown them investments and privileged access to its market.
But “the carrot remained imaginary, and we saw only the stick,” summarizes Frank Juris. The researcher at the International Defense Center and Security in Tallinn explains: “The economic promises have not materialized. On the other hand, China has managed to increase its influence and affect the EU unity.” Irony, He says, is that in the absence of economic benefits, the Baltic States remained very unfinished by China. The sanctions imposed by Beijing, following the opening of Taiwan’s representation, have had little effect on the Lithuanian economy.
According to M me Berzina-Cerenkova, the reaction of Vilnius is to be analyzed in a national context, which saw “the awakening of a strong anti-sized feeling” after a series of incidents having aroused the indignation of public opinion. In August 2019, first of all, employees of the Embassy of China are spotted in a counter-event, organized in Vilnius, margin of a support movement in Hong Kong. A few months later, a video circulates on the internet. It shows a Chinese tourist enachating a cross favorable to the Hong Kong activists, on the “Cross Hill”, a place of pilgrimage in northern Lithuania.
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