Kęstutis Girnius. Unity – a Necessity?

 

"The fifth column in Lithuania will be talked about for a long time, in a smooth and vague way. I do not think that the quality of discussions will improve, and vague accusations will dominate the speeches of politicians and other influential people. These speeches will not increase the quality of democracy, although we can hope that a witch hunt similar to the so-called McCarthyism in the USA 80 years ago will not prevail.

 

The initiator of the discussions and accusations, the Speaker of the Seimas, Saulius Skvernelis, refuses to specifically specify who belongs to this group of real or potential traitors. Maybe he wants to avoid a defamation case, but you would think that for such a self-proclaimed patriot as S. Skvernelis, this would be a trifle unworthy of attention.

 

President Gitanas Nausėda also claimed that the fifth column is raising its head, getting stronger, and acting quite cunningly. "This is the simplest, elementary, everyday, primitive fifth column <…> we must fight and fight with them mercilessly.” After about five days, the President spoke a little more subtly. We should not “try to pin beetles to the wall with a needle and hang such a fifth column gallery in the Seimas.” It is more important to talk about the phenomenon of the fifth column in society.

 

Minister of National Defense Dovilė Šakalienė showed that women are no less vigilant, noting that there are politicians living in an “alternative reality” in the Seimas, but she did not speak in more detail.

 

There is no clarity, because no attempt was even made to define the concept of the “fifth column” more precisely, although the President may have unconsciously offered a provisional definition – these are groups of individuals who oppose the interests of the state. But the state has a variety of interests – it is not only concerned with the security of the country, but also with the health and well-being of its citizens, the level of education, the prosperity of the economy, etc. Citizens will assess the importance of these interests differently, and even if national security is considered the most important interest, there will be no agreement on the assessment of threats, and therefore no consensus on how much money should be allocated to defense in order to avoid unproductive excess spending.

 

The Baltic and Nordic countries and Poland are determined to allocate up to 5-6 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to defense. Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said that Lithuania would allocate 5.25 percent of its GDP to defense next year. But Italy, France and Slovakia stubbornly opposed the plan of the European Union (EU) diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas that each EU country would be obliged to pay contributions to the Ukraine military support fund (the amount of 40 billion euros was mentioned), the amount being calculated based on each country’s gross national income.

 

Her reserve proposal to allocate an additional 5 billion euros to Ukraine was also rejected. Italy, Slovakia and even France opposed it. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wants the organization to decide at the NATO summit in June that each country should allocate 3.7 percent of GDP to defense. It is obvious that many southern NATO countries will not even try to reach this quota, partly because they have different views on the threats posed by Russia.

 

It is worth noting that the European Commissioner for Defense and Space, Andrius Kubilius, said that the EU is not yet ready to issue so-called Eurobonds to increase the necessary defense capabilities. The EU is already heavily indebted.

 

In a comment on “lrt.lt” Saulius Spurga detailed and restrained his view on the possibility of a fifth column. Much can be agreed with, but S. Spurga strongly emphasizes the importance of unity, saying that “unanimous voting on security issues is a value in itself.” I can't imagine what arguments he could use to justify such passivity and lack of an opinion. He fetishizes national unity, forgetting that in order to understand the truth, lively discussions are often needed, that silencing critics or suggesting that critics should silence themselves undermines democracy, gives excessive power and influence to the current political elite.

 

More unity may be needed in times of war, but Lithuania is not currently at war, its citizens are not dying on the battlefields, but are watching Ukrainian soldiers do it. It is worth remembering the observation of the commentator Walter Lippmann that "where everyone thinks alike, no one thinks much." The mentality of a sheep herd is not suitable, in the words of Darius Kuolis, for free citizens of a free country, and therefore should not be encouraged.

 

Protests and opposition to the majority opinion are often necessary and very useful. Currently, mass protests are taking place in Israel against Benjamin Netanyahu's policies and personal corruption. Student protests in the US against the Vietnam War forced President Lyndon B. Johnson to decide not to seek a second term and created conditions for de-escalation. The first protests usually cause a negative public reaction, but often this is followed by insight and the realization that the government's statements often have little contact with reality.

 

Not everyone who "destroys unity" is guided by noble goals or motives. On the other hand, not all critics of the government rely on “illogical argumentation”, artificially seeking to demonstrate a different approach to security (does this remark also apply to countries that rejected K. Kallas’s calls to raise 40 billion?), and to undermine joint efforts. Critics will not turn the debate on defense issues into a shambles, because there are no serious discussions at all, just as there are no serious, convincing and rational explanations why Lithuania needs to form a division. But those who doubted the necessity of a division or demanded an open discussion about the importance of a division would most likely be considered candidates for the fifth column.

 

Fears about the development of a fifth column in society can lead to disastrous witch hunts. Although there are no clear signs that opponents of the fifth column are raising their heads in Lithuanian society, the possibility of a witch hunt cannot be ruled out. Such a hunt took place in the United States in the early 1950s, when Senator Joe McCarthy claimed to have a list of members of the US Communist Party working in the State Department who posed a threat to the foundations of the state. The main targets of the persecution of J. McCarthy and other demagogues were civil servants, actors, academics, writers, left-wing politicians and trade union activists. The suspicions were often believed despite inconclusive and dubious evidence, and the threats were exaggerated. Many innocent people who were considered communist sympathizers lost their jobs, their careers were ruined, and some were even imprisoned.

 

The term McCarthyism became a generic name for the defamation of character or reputation through widely publicized unfounded accusations that some individuals were communist agents or associates.

 

S. Skvernelis has been waging a vendetta against Remigijus Žemaitaitis and "Nemuno aušra" for some time. Maybe he can't digest the fact that Nemuno aušra managed to win more public support in six months than the party S. Skvernelis leads in six years.”