Nausėda calls Taiwan office name debate an emotional firestorm

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said debate over whether the Foreign Ministry pressured the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius to change its name had turned into “a huge emotional firestorm over nothing,” LRT reported on Monday.

Nausėda said the office’s name was a linguistic issue that had been expected to bring Lithuania significant political benefits. He added that those benefits had not materialised and that the discussion should also address why.

“If names were important, investment and economic cooperation in Lithuania would probably be at the highest level,” he said, noting that countries with Taipei representative offices, as well as those without one, maintained closer and more active economic ties with Taiwan.

His comments came after the news outlet Delfi reported that the Foreign Ministry, which is seeking to restore diplomatic representation with China, asked the office in Vilnius in September to change its name. Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys described media reports about the request as inaccurate and declined to comment.