18% of Lithuanians Want Kaliningrad to Become Part of Lithuania

Lithuanians respect Russia's interests, according to a statement by Raimondas Lopata, the director of the Institute for International Relations and Political Studies of Vilnius University. He was speaking at the European NGO forum which opened today in Kaliningrad.

Raimondas Lopata noted that according to the results of a poll recently carried out in Lithuania, 38% of Lithuanians said that they saw Kaliningrad's future as lying exclusively as part of Russia. Around 10% of those questioned believe the region's future is as a fourth Baltic republic. 18% of those polled are of the opinion that the Kaliningrad Region could receive some kind of status within the EU. Most controversially, 18% think that the region could become part of Lithuania, while 1% believe that it could become part of Poland.

Lopata added that borders are necessary, but that they should be transparent. He said that discussions on them should be based on the principle of equality and should take into account the interests of all parties.