Rasa Juknevičienė: it is important for Lithuania that Belarus does not become a part of Russia

The Minister of Defense of Lithuania Rasa Juknevičienė told the European Radio for Belarus, how she protested against Lukashenka and why she cooperates with the regime today, whether Belarus is expected in NATO and when there will be a Belarusian squadron in the Alliance, and also revealed several military and family secrets.

European Radio for Belarus: I know you were in charge of the “Belarus issue” while being a deputy in the parliament”…

Rasa Juknevičienė: Yes, since the year 2000 I was the leader of the parliamentary group on connections with the democratic forces of Belarus. I know all the Belarusian opposition leaders personally. I participated in the actions of protest against what President Lukashenka did. However, observing all that is happening now in Russia, I would not agree that Belarus is the only dictatorship country. Belarus is not the only one. If we look to the East, we will see many of such countries. Even Russia cannot be called a democratic country. There are plenty of problems with democracy there. So, it is very important for Lithuania that Belarus does not disappear from the map of Europe, does not become a part of the empire.

European Radio for Belarus: are you saying this as a Minister of Defense?

Rasa Juknevičienė: We see that the integration of Belarus and Russia in the sphere of defense is very strong. We would like Belarus to turn more to the West, to NATO. As a politician and as a Minister of Defense I am convinced that we should cooperate not only with the opposition, but also to establish connections which would change the situation in the future.

European Radio for Belarus: For example?

Rasa Juknevičienė: For example, Belarusian military men study English in our Military Academy. Is it cooperation with the regime? In a certain sense it is. However, the more of your military men know that the member of NATO Lithuania is not their enemy and there is no necessity to conduct such big Belarusian-Russian military training exercises like “West 2009”, aimed at Lithuania and Poland, the better. Maybe it would be better to launch Belarusian-Lithuanian programs. We have little cooperation in the military branch, but it’s time to start developing it. I’ll tell you a military secret: I have received a letter that your Minister of Defense is going to visit Lithuania in October. Maybe, this visit will be a push towards cooperation between our countries.

European Radio for Belarus: who is the initiator of this meeting?

Rasa Juknevičienė: Me. I invited the previous Minister, we prepared the agenda of the visit, but he was deposed. This will be the first visit of a military Minister, and we have an intention to sign an agreement on cooperation in the sphere of defense.

European Radio for Belarus: do you think that the contact between our countries at the level of military ministers is possible?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I am not such a naïve person to think that one meeting can change the whole situation. However, it is worth trying. Poland came out with an initiative, and we participate in it, to create a Polish-Ukrainian-Lithuanian brigade. This was before the elections in the Ukraine. Unfortunately, I don’t know how the situation will develop there now.  I am going to the Ukraine next week, to meet with the Minister of Defense. They say the new president and the government keep the course towards cooperation with NATO. We now have an idea to include a Belarusian squadron into this brigade. Such cooperation would be advantageous in the military sense, as well as in the political sense. Naturally, it was impossible when General Uskhopchyk – the man responsible for what happened in Lithuania in January 1991 - worked for your Ministry of Defense. Soldiers of Vilnius post killed peaceful people due to his order. Now he does not work in the Ministry of Defense, and he was interrogated by the General Public Prosecution of the Republic of Belarus. I understand these are formalities, but it’s a step forward. Now we can at least talk to each other.

European Radio for Belarus: what would be your attitude to Belarusian-Lithuanian military training exercises?

Rasa Juknevičienė: depends on what kind of exercises. I would say okay to anti-terrorist ones. On the whole, I am grateful to Russia for the military training exercises “West 2009”. After that NATO have changed their opinion with regard to military trainings in our region. Next year we will conduct good training on defense. We were told before not to tease Russia with such trainings, but now – do what you please!

European Radio for Belarus: how do you think, is it possible that Belarus ever becomes a member of  NATO?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I would like it to happen. NATO is created with an aim to keep peace and safety in the countries-member of NATO.  However, the Soviet propaganda did a lot to make people distrust NATO. Belarus and the Ukraine have strong stereotypes that NATO is an enemy, which threatens safety of your countries. But it’s not like that!  There’s no war when there’s NATO. You can ask about Belgrade, Serbia. There was genocide, people died. Until there was NATO. If Belarus becomes a member of NATO, a member of the European Union, if I live till this happy moment, I will be as glad as when Lithuania gained independence and went into NATO! We also have a pragmatic interest here: we don’t want borders. But the decision of Belarus now is to enter neither NATO, nor the European Union. And the borders between our countries will remain until Belarus changes this decision.

European Radio for Belarus: tell us a little about yourself – how a civil woman became the Minister of Defense?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I was born in the North of Lithuania, in the city called Panevezys. Near this city there’s a small village where my parents live and where I went for the vacation this year. I was a farmer – I grew cucumbers, tomatoes and was happy without politics and all the rest which I have to deal with during the whole year. I have been engaged into politics since 1988, when “Sąjūdis“ – a movement for independence of Lithuania – was created in our country. I worked as a children‘s doctor till 1988. At that moment I couldn‘t even dreamed of the politician‘s career, as I am a daughter of the repressed mother (she was in Siberia). However, the breakdown of the USSR changed everything so I gave my all to fighting for independence. In 1990 I was elected to the Parliament, at the first free elections. I think that elections were even more free than now. There was no big money or business which wanted to  influence the political situation. It was easy for the people to choose whom to vote for: there was the Communist Party, there was  Sąjūdis, one woman-candidate for deputy, and six men as rivals. The people elected me. Now, when women‘s  magazines ask me a question „Is it hard for a woman to be engaged into politics?“, I answer “I think it‘s much easier than to sweep the streets at 4 in the morning". No one asks them if it’s hard for them. In 1996 I made it to the Parliament for the second time and consciously went to work for the Committee of National Security and Defense. I realized that without the security basis it is impossible to build up the state of our dreams out of our small country. Then our current party “Homeland Union” was created, I became one of the leaders and took the responsibility for defense and security. So when we formed the government in 2008, the then candidate for prime-Minister Kubilius offered me the position of the Minister of Defense.

European Radio for Belarus: Did you agree on the spot?

Rasa Juknevičienė: No, first I refused. I thought it was not for me. However, after a series of negotiations I accepted this offer. It’s a very interesting work.

European Radio for Belarus: Is it hard for a woman to be a Minister of Defense? What was the reaction of the military men?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I never felt they did not accept me. The majority of our officers have already been in the countries where a woman in the military is not such an unusual thing. There are 5 of us – women as Ministers of Defense now – in Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Lithuania. As for the question whether it is hard or not, I would say it’s much more difficult and complicated to be a Minister of Social Defense now. I have just one problem – little finance. Defense receives only 0,9% of total gross output.

European Radio for Belarus: Do you wear uniform?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I am not supposed to! I am not a military. According to our legislation, a military man cannot be a Minister of Defense. However, now I’ve got a hobby – I like shooting and I can’t say I’ve got bad aiming accuracy.

European Radio for Belarus: What was the reaction of your family to your new position?

Rasa Juknevičienė: It was normal. They even supported me. When I hesitated whether to accept Kubilius offer or not, my brothers urged me to go and try.

European Radio for Belarus: Do you have time for your family?

Rasa Juknevičienė: Evenings, week-ends – I like to visit my parents in the village. That’s the only place where I can rest, where I can be myself and not to feel like an actress on the stage. There, as well as at home, I do what all the other women do – cook dinner, supper. My brothers with their families, and my parents often visit me – they like good food. I also like cycling around the village.



European Radio for Belarus: Have your relations with your family or your husband changed after you accepted the new position?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I do understand it’s not forever. One should always remain a human. However, this position takes a lot of time, but it also gives many other things. Like experience. But you should never forget that you are just a guest at this position, in politics, in this world. The most important thing is to remain a human.

European Radio for Belarus: Isn’t your husband jealous of your career success?

Rasa Juknevičienė: No. He used to be a deputy of Parliament himself. Now he works as a lawyer and doesn’t do any politics, but he understands everything, and we have no problems with that. For example, yesterday I came back from work earlier and we were canning tomatoes together.

 
European Radio for Belarus: do you let your emotions reveal at work?

Rasa Juknevičienė: Very rarely. It happened only several times. I try to look at all the problems cool-headedly. On the contrary, when people get too emotional, I try to calm them down. Much depends on the Head of the establishment.

European Radio for Belarus: do you like when people give you flowers?

Rasa Juknevičienė: Naturally. But I like alive flowers, in the pots. It makes me sad when flowers are thrown away after a day or two.

European Radio for Belarus: Do you think of your future career? Do you have an ambition to be a President?

Rasa Juknevičienė: I would never take a position at which you are supposed to have bodyguards. I would have no private life in this case! I would not be able to go to my village! Now I can drive myself, the Minister of Defense has no guards, I am my own boss.

European Radio for Belarus: Do you go shopping yourself as well? And choose your clothes?

Rasa Juknevičienė: Yes, it happens that I go shopping, but on the whole I don’t have enough time. My clothes are designer made. We work on it together.

Photo: Zmitser Lukashuk