Posted:
17.12.2024 17:54:00
Expert: sanctions today certify national sovereignty
Today, sanctions became a certificate of sorts that proves the country they are imposed on is sovereign, said Nikolai Mezhevich, Head of the Belarusian Research Centre at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Europe (IE RAS), during a Minsk-Moscow video conference
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Recently, Lithuania and Estonia introduced sanctions against a number of Georgian politicians, including the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
“That was a signal. As soon as Georgia tried to become sovereign, they imposed sanctions. In other words, sanctions today are a quality certificate. They mean you are doing great, your country is sovereign. Why would anyone sanction, say, Lithuania? Yes they have a coat of arms, flag and anthem. But they don’t have a country, it’s a fiction. In reality, the Lithuanian culture minister gets instructions from a third secretary at the US embassy who is in charge of culture. Another secretary gives instructions to the healthcare minister, some attaché – to the economy minister. The President, out of respect for his status, goes for orders to the ambassador himself. They call that ‘independence’, but it’s the same independence a street tram has, for instance. Theoretically, it’s independent, but it only can move along its pre-defined tracks,” Mr. Mezhevich explained.
According to the expert, all Baltic States today are like that tram that can only move along its tracks and, generally, only one way.
“That was a signal. As soon as Georgia tried to become sovereign, they imposed sanctions. In other words, sanctions today are a quality certificate. They mean you are doing great, your country is sovereign. Why would anyone sanction, say, Lithuania? Yes they have a coat of arms, flag and anthem. But they don’t have a country, it’s a fiction. In reality, the Lithuanian culture minister gets instructions from a third secretary at the US embassy who is in charge of culture. Another secretary gives instructions to the healthcare minister, some attaché – to the economy minister. The President, out of respect for his status, goes for orders to the ambassador himself. They call that ‘independence’, but it’s the same independence a street tram has, for instance. Theoretically, it’s independent, but it only can move along its pre-defined tracks,” Mr. Mezhevich explained.
According to the expert, all Baltic States today are like that tram that can only move along its tracks and, generally, only one way.
