There I was, sitting in my favourite spot outside the Neringa Hotel, minding my own business, when the road cleared magically, and suddenly a cavalcade of government cars shot by. 't was Angela Merkel and Mr President Valdas Adamkus rushing along no doubt from the Parliament (and the currently very sensitive memorials of the 1991 events) to the President's Palace. Our President's feelings about Russia are well-known - at times his behaviour is rather petty (I can't believe that when the new Russian ambassador arrived [incidentally a military man with a Georgian surname] the president refused to see him for a fortnight, blaming a full diary). Their exchange of views will have been frank, I suspect.
Strangely, on the German news a few hours later, not a whisper was heard about Lithuania, only about Estonia where it seems she had also been on the same day. The Estonians expressed their feelings about Russia and the Russia language volubly (in English). They said, and they are probably right, that Russia was not a (rational) nation like Western states and should not be treated as such. Germany tends to have a policy of cautious approachment, not entirely in sync with most Western countries, and certainly not in sync with the Baltic states.
Strangely, on the German news a few hours later, not a whisper was heard about Lithuania, only about Estonia where it seems she had also been on the same day. The Estonians expressed their feelings about Russia and the Russia language volubly (in English). They said, and they are probably right, that Russia was not a (rational) nation like Western states and should not be treated as such. Germany tends to have a policy of cautious approachment, not entirely in sync with most Western countries, and certainly not in sync with the Baltic states.
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