Frustration grows over Lithuania's slow progress in mending ties with Beijing
Lithuanian lawmakers pushing to normalise relations with China are criticising the government's slow pace and plan to travel to Brussels at their own expense to meet Chinese diplomats after parliament refused to fund the trip.
For nearly two years, Lithuania's government has pursued a goal of normalising relations with Beijing, which soured under the previous conservative administration over the opening of a Taiwanese representative office in Vilnius. Progress, however, has been minimal, and some politicians are running out of patience.
Seimas member Ignas Vėgėlė, who sits with the non-attached group, announced he will travel to Brussels at his own expense to meet Chinese diplomatic representatives after the Seimas board rejected a request to partly fund the trip from parliamentary resources. Vėgėlė and fellow lawmaker Rimas Jonas Jankūnas belong to a temporary parliamentary group advocating for normalised relations with China, and both have expressed frustration with the slow progress on an issue that is formally part of the government's program.
The Seimas board's rejection was based both on concerns over the use of parliamentary funds and on the fact that the planned meetings had not been coordinated with the Foreign Ministry. Vėgėlė said the decision would not change his plans to meet senior diplomats in Brussels, noting that lawmakers had previously used parliamentary funds to travel to Taiwan, and that he and Jankūnas would now have to fix the consequences of that by covering their own costs.
The government has tasked Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys with restoring Lithuania-China relations to a level comparable with other EU member states. Currently, Vilnius and Beijing do not even host each other's ambassadors. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said he hopes to see progress before Lithuania takes over the EU Council presidency in the first half of 2027.
Seimas board member Rasa Budbergytė said lawmakers need to coordinate carefully with the Foreign Ministry, describing China as a serious international player that requires careful handling. Vėgėlė defended the planned trip, pointing out that Estonia's foreign minister managed to meet senior Chinese officials while his Lithuanian counterpart has failed to do so in two years.
Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas said Budrys is moving in the right direction, while President Gitanas Nausėda said he hopes for at least interim signs of progress soon. Not everyone in parliament supports the effort, however — Conservative lawmaker Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnienė criticised the initiative, arguing that China supports Russia's aggression against Ukraine and has serious human rights and democracy problems of its own.
