The Seimas of Lithuania adopted a resolution recognizing the Russian private military company "Wagner" as a terrorist organization.
This is reported by the BNS agency.
The resolution adopted on Tuesday states that the Russian private military company "Wagner" is a terrorist organization, and its members and mercenaries pose a threat to the security of the state and society. At the same time, the Lithuanian parliament strongly condemned the use of any mercenary groups, such as "Wagner", created with the support of the Russian authorities to commit the crime of aggression in Ukraine.
117 members of the Seimas voted unanimously for the resolution.
"Since the beginning of the military invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine in 2022, servicemen of the Russian Federation and mercenaries of the private military company "Wagner", which takes an active part in hostilities on the side of the aggressor, have been committing systematic serious crimes of aggression - killing and torturing the civilian population of Ukraine, bombing houses and other civilian objects, which amounts to terrorism," the document says.
The resolution of the Diet emphasizes that the private military company "Wagner", founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is close to the President of the Russian Federation, is a shadow tool of the Russian government.
According to Laurins Kaschyunas, one of the initiators of the resolution, such companies are increasingly used by Russia in military conflicts. "The just-presented public threat assessment of our Lithuanian intelligence services claims that such private military and security companies may be able to conduct limited operations against Lithuania," the politician said.
The resolution calls on other countries to recognize the Russian private military organization "Wagner" as a terrorist organization. The Seimas also emphasizes the need for Lithuania to adopt a law on the prevention of terrorism with specific criteria on the basis of which the government or an institution authorized by it will approve the list of terrorist organizations, as well as the sanctions defined in the current laws.