Lithuania calls for international recognition of Russia as 'terrorist state'

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The Lithuanian parliament passed a resolution Tuesday that urges EU member states to designate Russia "a terrorist state," according to media reports.

The resolution was supported by 114 lawmakers in the 141-seat Seimas, said Lithuanian broadcaster LRT.

"First of all, we call on the European Union and its member states to work together to extend the EU legal framework to recognize states sponsoring terrorism and using terrorist means, and we call for ensuring the implementation of the EU sanctions policy by preventing any sanction circumvention," said LRT, citing Raimundas Lopata, a liberal MP and one of the authors of the resolution.

The resolution includes raising the issue of "Russia’s accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Ukraine" as well as "recognizing Russia as a state sponsoring and perpetrating terrorism."

Lithuania's parliament last May designated Russia as "a terrorist country" after it began its “special military operation” in Ukraine.