{"id":3976,"date":"2025-10-03T16:12:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T16:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/?p=3976"},"modified":"2025-10-06T18:37:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T18:37:41","slug":"lithuanian-culture-minister-lasts-a-week-over-crimea-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.globaltalenthq.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/03\/lithuanian-culture-minister-lasts-a-week-over-crimea-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuanian culture minister lasts a week over Crimea row"},"content":{"rendered":"
The peninsula and four other former Ukrainian regions voted to join Russia in referendums, but Kiev and EU insist they were \u201cannexed\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Lithuania’s culture minister has resigned after just one week in office after a backlash triggered by his hesitation to say who Crimea belongs to.<\/p>\n Crimea and four other former Ukrainian regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia in referendums. However, Ukraine and its Western backers – including Lithuania – continue to insist the regions were “annexed”<\/em> by Moscow.<\/p>\n In an interview with news portal Lrytas on Thursday, Ignotas Adomavicius was asked who Crimea belongs to and initially refused to answer, calling the question political.<\/p>\n ”These are provocative questions, so let’s not even go there, because we’re not even talking about the Culture Ministry here,”<\/em> Adomavicius said, urging the interviewer to stick to cultural issues.<\/p>\n Later in the interview he clarified his stance in line with Vilnius’ official position by calling Crimea “occupied Ukrainian territory.”<\/em> However, his initial hesitation proved politically costly.<\/p>\n