DISINFO: Lithuania blackmails Ukraine with a loss of visa-free travel
SUMMARY
Today, the biggest Lithuanian enthusiasts of Ukraine’s “European choice” are happy to participate in the blackmailing of Ukrainians, suggesting that they could lose visa-free access to the European Union – the only good thing that Ukraine received from its choice.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine and its relations with the EU. The disinformation claim appeared in the context of an open letter from three members of the European Parliament to the head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia, in which they called on the Ukrainian authorities to reinvigorate the anti-corruption reforms. The letter explicitly states that:
With regard to the Visa-free regime, it is by no means the intention from the EU side to abolish this great achievement for all Ukrainian and the EU citizens – still, we will reserve the right to impose the specific denial of such freedoms to individual oligarchs and policy-makers who abuse this right for their private illegal activities.
The letter was signed by the European Parliament rapporteur for Ukraine Michael Galer, deputy head of the parliamentary delegation to the EU-Ukraine Association Committee, MEP Viola von Kramer and Rasa Juknevičienė. MEPs Galer and von Kramer are German politicians, while only Rasa Juknevičienė is from the Republic of Lithuania. Read a similar case: Visa liberalisation for Ukraine “bites the dust”.