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Roundup: Lithuania criticizes possible individual talks with Russia on food embargo

Xinhua, January 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Lithuania's top officials critically responded on Tuesday to reports that the European Commission (EC) might let Russia renew negotiations on trade with certain EU countries.

Algirdas Butkevicius, the prime minister of Lithuania, said he was shocked to hear reports on the EC allowing Russia to negotiate with certain EU member countries on lifting the food embargo.

Butkevicius said the decision is a mistake which "needs to be corrected as soon as possible."

"Then it wouldn't be possible to speak on a unified position on other issues as well. I think this decision must be cancelled," said Butkevicius in an interview with national broadcaster LRT.

"There can't be any exceptions, as we see, what's happening in Ukraine. This decision is absolutely unacceptable to me," he added.

Dalia Grybauskaite, president of Lithuania, sees the decision as undermining the unity of the EU.

"Of course, this is a deplorable precedent even similar to provocation," said Virginija Budiene, advisor to Grybauskaite, in an interview with radio station Ziniu radijas.

Budiene pointed to the letter from EC's Directorate Generale for Health and Food Safety to the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance. According to Budiene, the letter clearly indicates that Russia is being offered to negotiate with every EU member state individually on lifting the food embargo.

The president's office said the responsibility for the move fell on Vytenis Andriukaitis, the European Commissioner for Heath and Food Safety and the former health minister of Lithuania.

Andriukaitis reacted by issuing a press statement in which he insisted that conversations with Russia included discussions on possibly lifting the food embargo for certain products and to all EU countries.

"Such a cancellation of restrictions should be applied to all EU members. Technical discussions aren't over yet, nothing is agreed yet," said Andriukaitis in a statement.

Russia earlier said that it had agreed to resume trade with certain EU countries, namely France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands and Hungary, in technical discussions.

Andriukaitis said that reports on Russia's preferences for bilateral talks with EU states are aimed at harming Europe's unity.

"It's unacceptable," insisted the commissioner. Endit