During the morning sitting of the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday, October 10, all 108 MPs present voted in favor of a resolution supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. Israeli ambassador Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein and the chargé d’affaires of the Israeli embassy in Vilnius were present for the discussion and poll.
Official press release:
Seimas adopts the Resolution on Terrorist Attacks and Aggression against the State of Israel
Press release
October 10, 2023
The Seimas has strongly condemned the recent bloody, unprovoked attacks carried out against the State of Israel by Hamas, an international terrorist group which is backed by the Islamic Republic of Iran and which took over the Gaza Strip in 2005, and has extended its sincere condolences to the people of the State of Israel for the numerous victims.
At the beginning of the sitting, the Seimas observed a minute of silence in memory of the victims. “On 7 October 2023, thousands of Israelis were killed, injured and kidnapped when Hamas terrorists launched hostilities against Israel. We express our sincere condolences to and solidarity with the State of Israel, which has always been on the front lines of the fight against terrorism,” said Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas, as she invited the participants of the sitting to pay tribute to the memory of the victims.
In the resolution adopted today the Lithuanian Parliament stresses that the rise of terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad and their further activities are driven by the cooperation with and support from the authoritarian regimes, including the regimes in Iran and Russia.
“Authoritarian regimes must not be allowed to destabilize the geopolitical situation in Europe, the Middle East and other regions; the solidarity of democracies and their support for the peoples fighting against authoritarian and terrorist regimes, in particular in Ukraine and Israel, are the cornerstones of restoration of peace and stability,” the resolution states. It adds: “Hamas has no interest in the security and well-being of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and of all other Palestinians.”
The Seimas calls on the leaders of the European Union and the international community to show solidarity with Israel and to provide political, intelligence and diplomatic support to Israel. The Seimas calls on foreign governments with official representative offices of the Hamas terrorist organisation to expel the personnel of the said representative offices; and urges Josep Borrell, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, to support the call expressed in the resolution of the European Parliament to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as an international terrorist organization. The Seimas also calls on the international community to do its utmost to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The Seimas emphasizes that the Israeli people, both civilians and the military, who have been taken hostage, must be released immediately. The Seimas welcomes the concerted action of Israeli society in the face of the unprovoked war, supports the self-defense of the State of Israel against the ongoing military provocations of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, and upholds the fight of the State of Israel against the spread of political and military influence by the Islamic Republic of Iran in Iraq and Syria.
“As a small country, we are trying to convey to another small country that it has the right to self-defence. The key message we are sending is this: the people of Israel have the right to defend themselves,” said co-initiator of the resolution Emanuel Zingeris. He said the attack on Israel represents an assault on democracy and on the right of individuals to live and build their own states.
A total of 108 MPs voted unanimously in favour of the Resolution initiated by Emanuelis Zingeris and Žygimantas Pavilionis.
Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department,
tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: rimas.rudaitis@lrs.lt
Full press release here.
Resolution (unofficial translation):
On Terrorist Attacks and Military Aggression against the State of Israel
No. XIV-2184
October 10, 2023
Vilnius
The Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania,
severely condemning the unprovoked attacks against the State of Israel by the international terrorist organization Hamas which took power in the Gaza Strip in 2005 and is supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran;
expressing sincere condolences to the people of the State of Israel for the plethora of victims from the unprecedented terrorist attack;
expressing condolences to all countries whose citizens died during this terrorist attack;
in support of the recent process of the Abraham agreement for normalization between Israel and the Arab states;
condemning the most recent vote by the Russian Federation on the Security Council of the United Nations blocking the initiative by all [other] members of the Security Council in concert to condemn the unprovoked aggression by the terrorist organization Hamas against the State of Israel;
emphasizing that the State of Israel has the right to defend its territory and the safety of its people;
stressing that the rise of organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad is due to cooperation with the authoritarian regimes which also support their activities, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, and the support they provide;
underlining that these authoritarian regimes should not be allowed to destabilize the geopolitical situation in Europe, the Near East and other regions, and that the solidarity of democratic states and their aid to the peoples fighting authoritarian and terrorist regimes, primarily in the Ukraine and Israel, is the fundamental means for restoring peace and stability;
noting that centuries-old cultural, social and political ties bind Lithuania and the Jewish people, and that the State of Israel is Lithuania’s most important democratic partner in the Near Eastern region;
expresses our solidarity with the Jewish people and with the State of Israel;
stipulates that the people of Israel taken hostage, both civilians and soldiers, must be released immediately;
condemns the expansion of terrorist activities by the terrorist organizations Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard support by the Islamic Republic of Iran in South America, Africa and others countries and the connections between this activity and the intelligence and security services of the Russian Federation;
calls upon those countries who host official representatives of the Hamas terrorist organization to expel personnel belonging to this organization from the country;
welcomes the rallying of Israeli society in the face of unprovoked war,
supports the defensive actions of the State of Israel directed against military provocations currently being conducted by the Hezbollah terrorist organization;
supports the struggle by the State of Israel against the spread of the political and military influence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Iraq and Syria;
calls upon Josep Borrell, the highest-ranking foreign and security policy representative of the European Union, to approve of the demands made in the European Parliament’s resolution adopted on January 19, 2023, on the EU’s response to protests and executions in Iran for recognizing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as an international terrorist organization;
calls upon the leaders of the EU and the international community to express solidarity with Israel and provide Israel political, intelligence and diplomatic support;
notes that the Hamas terrorist organization is not interested in the safety or welface of the residents of the Gaza Strip and the other Palestinians;
points out that the terrorist organization which actively supports terrorism and attacks against Israel in the State of Israel and against Jews around the world is the regime of the Ayatollah and its international terrorist branches;
points out as well, that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the main ally of the Russian Federation in Russia’s war of aggression against the Ukraine;
notes that the Islamic Republic of Iran and its branches have expanded international activities in support of Russia and and against Ukrainian freedom;
recognizes that the State of Israel has the right to self-defense, but also calls for abstaining from actions which might violate international humanitarian law, and calls for seeking a lasting peace by returning to the Near Eastern peace process;
calls for supporting the efforts by the State of Israel in eliminating from the territory of the Gaza Strip the Hamas terrorist organization;
stresses the EU is required to take measues against any and all activities by the Hzebollah terrorist organization or other organizations subordinate to Iran;
calls upon the Government of the Republic of Lebanon to halt attackes by the terrorist organization Hezbollah supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the northern regions of the State of Israel;
proposes the international community in no way allow the Islamic Republic of Iran to make a nuclear weapon and to declare the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard an international terrorist organization;
points out that the officially declared goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the destruction of the State of Israel;
emphasizes that a nuclear weapon built by the Islamic Republic of Iran would be a further means to spread international terror and military aggression, so the democratic countires must take all measuers to stopd the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker, Lithuanian Parliament