The UN General Assembly last week voted to ask the International Court of Justice to rule on the fate of the British-ruled Chagos islands. The resolution was approved by a vote of 94 to 15 with 65 abstentions.
Twenty-two EU countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain abstained. Only Lithuania, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria voted against.
“Our arguments were more political than legal, because this has to do with the security and defense of our strategic allies,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius told BNS, explaining why Lithuania voted against the measure.
Britain back in 1965 separated the Indian Ocean archipelago of Chagos from Mauritius and set up a joint military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the
largest of the islands.
“This is important for their defense and security interests and that is why we are supporting them on this,” Linkevičius said.
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