Mindaugas Sinkevičius, leader of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party and the country's prime minister-in-waiting, indicated his priorities in government, touching on relations with Belarus, China, the future of the foreign ministry, and domestic social policy.
Sinkevičius is set to become prime minister following an agreement between the Social Democrats, the Democrats "For Lithuania" and the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union to form a new governing majority. The new coalition replaces the previous arrangement, in which the populist Nemunas Dawn party had been a partner.
Belarus sanctions: alignment with allies, but questions remain
Asked about the sanctions regime against Belarus, imposed in response to President Alexander Lukashenko's violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests and the rigging of the 2020 presidential election, the incoming prime minister said he was not convinced the policy was achieving its intended effect.
"Sanctions must achieve a certain defined result [...] sanctions should change behaviour," he said, using a domestic analogy: "If children misbehave and you ban them from using a phone or watching TV, you don't wish them ill – you want them to behave accordingly."
