The EU's summit in Vilnius on Nov. 28-29 has been billed as a "game changer" for relations between the EU and the countries to its east, including Russia. The surprising thing is that for once it is not the Lithuanians themselves who are talking up the chances of a history-forging couple of days in their lovely baroque capital.
“This is not just the Vilnius summit, this is a summit in Vilnius, I am always saying. We share ownership and we will share success after that – it’s not the end of the game,” says Lithuanian foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius.
Such uncharacteristic restraint from the Lithuanian side should not be too surprising, given that Vilnius’ recent form regarding major summits is not encouraging. At the last major summit in Vilnius, the Council of Baltic Sea States in 2010, the two headline acts, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Germany’s Angela Merkel, both cancelled at the last moment, creating yet another international anti-climax and another flaccid joint declaration that even its authors have probably forgotten by now.
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