Moscow irate over Lithuania ‘playing up to neo-Nazis’

The Lithuanian authorities continue to connive with neo-Nazis, ignoring lessons of history, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The head of a Lithuanian delegation to the UN recently said Vilnius will not stop prosecuting persons guilty of “committing crimes against the Lithuanian people during the occupation.” In another slap in the face for Moscow, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Andrius Kubilius urged on Tuesday to start considering the issue of compensation for the Soviet-era "occupation" of his country. The Russian Ministry said this position is “at odds with the norms and principles of international law.” Russia has long been at loggerheads with the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, as well as Poland, over perceived attempts to rewrite the history of World War II and lessen the Soviet role in the defeat of Nazi Germany. While Russia maintains that the Red Army liberated the Baltic States from German invaders, many residents of the republics put the two occupations on a par, citing mass Stalin-era deportations. Last year, the Lithuanian parliament approved amendments stipulating criminal penalties for those publicly justifying, denying or playing down international crimes, as well as crimes "committed by the U.S.S.R." and the Nazis against Lithuania.