Darius Semaška

Lithuanian ambassador to Switzerland

[Gitanas Nausėda @GitanasNauseda]

Respect to UK Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer for ordering the seizure of a Russian shadow‑fleet tanker in the English Channel.

Well done, @RoyalMarines, for successfully carrying out the operation today!

Another important step in cutting off funding for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

[Kęstutis Budrys @BudrysKestutis]

Today, Lithuania marks the Day of Mourning and Hope – the date when, 85 years ago, the brutal stalinist regime began the mass deportations of peaceful citizens of #Lithuania. Civil servants, doctors, teachers, farmers, lawyers, and even newborn babies were labelled “vragami naroda” – enemies of the people. Entire families were torn apart, taken from their homes in the middle of the night and transported in cattle wagons to Siberia, forced to survive in inhuman conditions. Around 17,000 Lithuanians were deported during the June deportations in 1941, and hundreds of thousands were deported over the course of the soviet occupation. Only a few of them managed to survive.

There is no family in Lithuania untouched by this tragedy. And today, as Russia repeats the same in #Ukraine, the echoes of history feel painfully close. The forced deportations of Ukrainian civilians – including children – from occupied territories; filtration camps where people are brutally interrogated, separated, or disappeared; deliberate attacks on residential areas and civilians; and systematic terror against people simply trying to survive – all of this reminds us that the machinery of repression did not vanish with the 20th century.

Russia’s crimes against humanity committed today in Ukraine mirror the horror stories of the soviet occupation passed down in our own families – the knock on the door at night, the trains, the separation, the fear, the death. They remind us that unpunished brutality tends to repeat itself when justice is denied.

Every crime against humanity must face justice. Just as the crime of aggression by Russia against Ukraine… Justice is not only a moral duty to the victims – it is the only safeguard that prevents such horrors from returning.

As we honour those who suffered and perished 85 years ago, we also stand with those who endure violence today, insisting that accountability is the foundation of just and lasting peace.

[Kęstutis Budrys @BudrysKestutis]

One step closer to 🇪🇺!

EU Member States have agreed to open the first negotiating cluster with #Ukraine and #Moldova.

A landmark move on their path to #EU membership and a powerful signal that the enlargement process is advancing.

Next stop: Intergovernmental Conferences on Monday - and the swift opening of all remaining clusters.

Ukraine and Moldova must keep driving reforms forward. The momentum is there. Now it's time to build on it.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

Every sign at this refinery in Ireland is in russian. The official website is a .RU domain.

There’s no reason to hide it because local politicians are openly doing it for them.

[Rimantas ‡ @DarRamesnis]

June 3, 1988. The Lithuanian Reform Movement Sąjūdis is founded in Vilnius. In just two years, it would help lead Lithuania from Soviet occupation to the restoration of independence. Through mass rallies, civic activism, and the courage of ordinary people, Sąjūdis became one of the most successful freedom movements in modern European history.

[Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 @GLandsbergis]

Some people are looking at this and saying oh well let's continue sending alumina to Russia anyway

[Darius Semaška @DariusSemaska]

“Die litauische Hauptstadt verbindet barocke Eleganz, kreative Energie und eine überraschend moderne Kulinarik zu einem der spannendsten City-Trips Europas.” https://t.co/3fwnTTIYt5

[Darius Semaška @DariusSemaska]

“Die Stadt verbindet Geschichte, Kreativität, Design, Kulinarik und Natur mit einer Selbstverständlichkeit, die man selten erlebt. Drei bis vier Tage reichen für einen ersten Eindruck. Wahrscheinlich aber nicht dafür, Vilnius wirklich loszulassen.” https://t.co/I8nOBVO2mB

[Linas Kojala @LinasKojala]

Most Ukrainians support sending the military to help defend Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and other countries if Russia posed a threat @RatingGroup

[Kęstutis Budrys @BudrysKestutis]

Before the informal 🇪🇺 #FMM today, I stressed to journalists that Europe’s security strategy must prioritize existential threats. Today, these are on the Eastern Flank.

We need urgent strengthening, smarter financing, and greater resilience there. The future European security architecture must be built on deterrence of Russia - with Ukraine 🇺🇦 at its core.
#Gymnich

[Linas Kojala @LinasKojala]

🇱🇹🇫🇮 Big move: Lithuania plans to buy 936 Finnish Patria armoured vehicles.

First 300 by 2030 – more steel, more mobility, more deterrence on the eastern flank.

[Kaja Kallas @kajakallas]

Russia wants us to discuss who talks to them,
And they are already picking who is suitable for that.

Let's not walk into that trap.

Negotiations are always a team effort, with a defined strategy.

That’s why the substance that we discuss today in Cyprus matters much more.

My press remarks ahead of today’s meeting of EU Foreign Ministers ↓

[Linas Kojala @LinasKojala]

I spoke with security policy officials from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia 🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪 about recent provocations, threats and drones. In short:

▪️Officials see no evidence of a sharply increased threat level or imminent Russian action. Russia currently lacks the capacity for that. But it is “raising the temperature” – hoping to spread fear, anxiety and uncertainty.

▪️The threats are viewed as an attempt to deter the Baltic states from supporting Ukraine and to divide them. They also reflect Moscow’s irritation over painful Ukrainian drone strikes and the broader course of the war, which has recently been unfavourable to the Kremlin.

▪️That does not make the references to specific sites in Latvia, or the Kaliningrad factor, irrelevant. Russia used similar pressure against Lithuania in 2022 over Kaliningrad–related sanctions. The answer remains the same: stronger national capabilities, better allied integration, and greater resilience.

[Baiba Braže @Braze_Baiba]

❗️Russia lies again❗️This time it is SVR or the External Intelligence Service running a disinformation campaign against Latvia.

✅FACT: Latvia does NOT provide airspace for attacks on Russia. That has been explained several times to Russian representatives.

[Kęstutis Budrys @BudrysKestutis]

Another drone. Another air alert in the Baltics. This time - near Lithuania’s border with Belarus. #NATO Baltic Air Policing was activated.

These drone incidents don’t exist in isolation. The growing wave of drone violations across the Baltic states is a direct consequence of Russia’s war against #Ukraine and #Belarus’ complicity in it. Moscow and Minsk are responsible for breaches of our airspace and threats to civilian safety.

Meanwhile, Russia continues its information offensive - falsely accusing Baltic states of enabling drone strikes against Russia. Lithuania has never allowed its territory or airspace to be used for such attacks.

The NATO& EU response cannot stay symbolic:
-NATO’s relevant capabilities - Eastern Sentry and Baltic Sentry missions - must be reinforced
- EU Eastern Flank Watch initiative must be implemented& Special EU instrument for resilience of Eastern Flank urgently created
- NATO’s frontline needs air defense& stronger counter-drone capabilities
- EU critical infrastructure protection must be strengthened, as well as measures to counter Kremlin’s propaganda narratives

[Darius Semaška @DariusSemaska]

«Wir haben den russischen Ballast abgeworfen», sagt der litauische Aussenminister https://t.co/znDxcLcZXO

[Bern Security Dialogue @BernSecDialogue]

“In our society, freedom has become so taken for granted that we hardly appreciate its value anymore”, says @MAStrackZi in an interview out today with Bern Security Dialogue Co-Chair and @NZZ security politics correspondent @Georg_Haesler. https://t.co/vQlJ9ZzeW7

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

"Europe stands by Ukraine because their fight is our fight. The values they defend are universal."

Emmanuel Macron, French President

[Kęstutis Budrys @BudrysKestutis]

Great discussion with the Finland's Minister for Foreign Trade and Development @VilleTavio in Vilnius today.

#Finland is a close and trusted partner of #Lithuania in the #EU, our NATO ally& an important member of the #NB8 family. We are united not only by shared values, but also by common strategic goals. Today, our bilateral relations are stronger than ever before& I look forward to enhancing them further.

🇱🇹🤝🇫🇮

[Roman Sheremeta 🇺🇸🇺🇦 @rshereme]

Russia is the first country in the world where fascists celebrate victory over fascism.