Like a lot of countries without good access to proper medical treatment, the necessary amount of vaccines, and the equipment to test the masses for Covid, Bangladesh is struggling intensely to fight and eradicate the disease. And as with other countries, countries that do possess the means to fight Covid have stepped in to help instate a vaccination system and provide supplies to fight the virus. In this case, Lithuania was the country that stepped up to provide Bangladesh with vaccines, agreeing to give 444,600 dosages over to the country. However, when the UN General Assembly voted to demand that Russia cease their invasion of Ukraine immediately and withdraw from the country. Out of the 193 states that were voting, 141 voted to intact the policy immediately. Lithuania was one of these countries. However, Bangladesh was one of the 35 countries that decided not to vote. This stance of neutrality did not go over well with Lithuania, who decided that Bangladesh’s neutral policy was reason enough to cancel the shipment of vaccines, in support of Ukraine and their cause against Russia.
The issue with Lithuania’s decision isn’t the support of Ukraine that it aims for. Instead, the problem is that Lithuania’s decision doesn’t just affect Bangladesh’s government. It also affects the citizens of Bangladesh, who suffer the consequences of a lack of vaccines. This offers up a moral dilemma- how far can repercussions go before they infringe on the rights of citizens rather than a country as a whole. Where do we draw the line between the two, and how do we perceive a country? These questions can also be applied to the situation in Russia. The sanctions placed on Russia as a result of Putin’s attack on Ukraine are precedented, and quite frankly needed, from an analytical perspective. But from a moral perspective, when we consider how much Russia’s economy has tanked, and how that affects the citizens living in the country, we have to ask where a line can be drawn. I believe it’s important to separate a country from the politicians that represent it- as in many countries this doesn’t represent the majority, and even when it does, there’s still a minority. But I also believe that a policy of neutrality in this particular situation does far more harm than good.
I think that this also offers up the question about when a sanction is appropriate and when a sanction is not appropriate. Officially, Lithuania’s withdrawal of vaccines from Bangladesh is not a sanction. But as a sanction is really repercussions against the actions of a government, it’s also important to evaluate how precedented these repercussions were. In the case of the US and Russia? Necessary. Putin’s current actions directly harm and endanger the lives of Ukrainian civilians. But in the case of Bangladesh, the cost may outweigh the point Lithuania was attempting to make.