Sinkevičius rejects rush to replace foreign minister over China ties

Virginijus Sinkevičius, leader of the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, said the task of normalising relations with China should not lead to a hasty decision to replace Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, LRT reported.

“This is not some kind of competition in which we should hurry. We face a situation that is not simple, but it is certainly not the fault of the current minister or the current government,” Sinkevičius said on the programme “ELTA Week”.

He said bringing relations with China to the level maintained by other European Union member states would be difficult. The Foreign Ministry is making efforts, he added, and he welcomed the fact that it was doing so discreetly.

“We want a result that means mutual respect,” Sinkevičius said.

He argued that Budrys’ future should not depend on whether he achieves the goal of normalising relations with China before Lithuania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. Even if Budrys fails to make more tangible progress, replacing him would not be the right solution, Sinkevičius said.

“I do not think now is a very suitable time to change the foreign minister, as we are approaching the presidency of the European Union. A new minister would still need time to settle in, become familiar with the work and establish contacts,” he said.

Sinkevičius said Lithuania should avoid making changes if it wanted a successful presidency that would be positively assessed by other EU member states. He added that he saw no reason to believe that replacing Budrys would immediately resolve the situation.

Earlier, Prime Minister-designate Mindaugas Sinkevičius said he could not guarantee that Budrys would remain foreign minister. Budrys’ future had been linked in public discussion and political circles to the China issue.

President Gitanas Nausėda has also said that Budrys’ future would depend on his work to normalise relations with China and implement agreements with Taiwan. Nausėda has said the expectation that the minister achieve progress before Lithuania’s EU Council presidency was realistic. Budrys himself has also expressed confidence in his prospects.

Conservative leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas, however, has said the task given to Budrys would be difficult to accomplish because of the clearly defined deadline.

Relations between Vilnius and Beijing deteriorated significantly after Lithuania opened the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius in late 2021. China considers Taiwan a province of China that has no right to establish representative offices in countries with which Beijing maintains official relations.

China imposed strict diplomatic and economic sanctions on Lithuania over the decision. In February 2022, the European Commission filed a complaint against China with the World Trade Organization, saying Beijing had applied discriminatory trade practices against Lithuania. The European Union said restrictions imposed ostensibly for hygiene reasons had reduced Lithuanian exports by 80 percent that year.

The European Union decided to withdraw the complaint from the World Trade Organization last December. During the tensions, China’s Foreign Ministry also officially downgraded the level of diplomatic relations with Lithuania.