Lithuania-Austria

Release of KGB officer creates chill

Published on 19 July 2011 at 09:59

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There is a chill in relations between Vilnius and Vienna. “Lithuania demands a sentence,” says Lithuanian daily Vilniaus diena concerning Mikhail Golovatov, a former KGB officer arrested in Vienna on July 15 and released the following day. Austria considers that the European arrest warrant issued by Lithuania last October is not sufficiently specific. Golovatov is seen by some as responsible for the January 13, 1991 attack on Lithuania’s television tower by special forces during the country’s struggle for independence from Soviet control. The attack left 14 dead and thousands of wounded. Vilnius has recalled its ambassador from Austria and the Foreign Affairs Ministry was ordered to inform its European collegues of “this unprecedented decision,” reveals Vilniaus diena. In a declaration picked up by the paper, Lithuanian MPs note that “releasing a person capable of having committed acts of war is an affront to the fundamental values of the European Union”. According to Vilniaus diena, Vienna caved in to pressure from Moscow.

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