While Lithuanian leaders say they support the “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Vilnius has never seriously considered recognising the state of Palestine, unlike a growing number of EU countries. Public opinion on the issue is similarly murky. A representative poll of the Lithuanian population, conducted by Baltijos Tyrimai between June 21 and July 7, shows that opinions are split on the issue of whether Lithuania should recognise the State of Palestine.
A plurality of 39 percent have no position at all, a third think it should, while slightly fewer, 28 percent, think it should not. “I would be surprised if the results were any different,” admits Egdūnas Račius, a professor of Middle East Studies at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. “That this contrasts with some or even a large part of Europeans was apparently programmed.
” The big number of Lithuanians without an opinion contrasts rather sharply with the sentiment in Western Europe, he adds, where positions are polarised. Fault of the education system? Nor are young Lithuanians more opinionated about the Middle East conflict, the survey suggests, which goes against the common assumption that the young generation is more pro-Palestinian or at least open to the world. According to Ernestas Jančenkas, a scholar at Vilnius University’s Institute of Asian and Transcultural Studies, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is simply too distant for many Lithuanians, which is why they do not .