According to her, the country’s politicians should not ignore the statements of the leader of this political force, which are considered anti-Semitic and have offended some citizens of Lithuania.
“Going into a coalition with such a party that clearly speaks anti-Semitic sentences – these are not acceptable things for me personally and for our community,” F. Kukliansky told Elta.
“Government and elections are not everything in life. These are not the most important things in life. You need a conscience, you need to follow at least 10 commandments of God,” she said.
According to the chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish community, questions arise not only because of political forces, which do not rule out the possibility of a coalition with “Nemunas Aušra”. F. Kukliansky is also surprised by the Presidency’s comments about the party enjoying its recent growing ratings.
“Anti-Semitism is against the citizens of Lithuania. The president must protect his citizens,” she said, referring to the president’s interview in which he said he hoped that “Nemunas Aushra” and its leader would be able to answer publicly raised questions about anti-Semitic statements and attitudes of political power towards Russia.
F. Kukliansky notes that the Jewish community should not remain indifferent to the statements of R. Žemaitaitis, who has never apologized
“I think that both the president and the state must be very concerned about the protection of the Jews. We have nowhere to go… And why should we go? We live in a democracy. Why do you have to tell us to “take a stick and kill that Jew”. Of course, a person can think in different ways, but there is a lexicon, there is a culture for making statements”, considered the chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish community, reminding that three communities have sued R. Žemaitaitis for inciting hatred.
“The Constitutional Court concluded that his actions are not compatible with the activities of the parliamentarian and the oath taken,” stressed F. Kukliansky.
Summarizing the issue, the chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish community asserted that there is only hope that the growing popularity of R. Žemaitaitis is not only related to the anti-Semitic statements that resonated in Lithuania and internationally.
“I am talking to you and crying because I did not expect that after 80 years, after all the memory lanes, after all the speeches in Paneri, we have such a voter. And the voter loves Žemaitaitis. I did not make Žemaitaitis an enemy of the Jews. I didn’t talk bad about him. The Jewish community has never said anything bad about Žemaitaitis. Shouldn’t the state be concerned about that?” – concluded F. Kukliansky.
ELTA reminds that the party “Nemunas Aušra” led by R. Žemaitaitis has recently been often mentioned as one of the likely members of the new ruling majority. Such speeches were reinforced by Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, the chairwoman of the Social Democrats, who are considered favorites in the Seimas elections, hinting that she would not rule out the possibility of forming a ruling coalition with Nemunas Aušra.
Such a statement of the social democrat was publicly criticized, emphasizing that the leader of the “Nemunas aushra” party, R. Žemaitaitis, was found by the Constitutional Court to have broken the oath of a member of the Seimas and grossly violated the Constitution due to anti-Semitic statements. After such a verdict of the CT, the politician himself refused the mandate of a member of the Seimas.
Responding to V. Blinkevičiūtė’s speech, Speaker of the Seimas and head of Liberal Movement Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen stated that she would not see her political strength in a coalition with “Nemunas Aušra”, while conservative leader G. Landsbergis called on parties on the left and right of the center to negotiate after the autumn elections prevent radical forces from coming to power.
For his part, President Gitanas Nausėda told “Žinių radio” at the end of August that he hopes that the party that has strengthened its position in the rating table will be able to answer publicly raised questions about its leader’s anti-Semitic statements and the attitudes of political power towards Russia.
2024-09-02 08:10:29