"No matter what pre-election slogans were in 2008, relations with neighbors have deteriorated since then," he said in an interview to news website lrt.lt.
"The political powers which were building up their identity through opposition to other nations created tension in relations with neighbors, in relations with Lithuania's ethnic minorities. Of course, Lithuania was not alone in doing that but the political power I mentioned definitely added to the creation of the tension," the diplomat and former secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
In his words, relations with the Visegrad countries were better before the conservatives came to power. "While looking for enemies over the last four years, we have found them both abroad and in Lithuania," the ambassador said.
Pavilionis also welcomed Linkevičius' words of apology said to the Polish press and later criticized by the conservatives.
"The fact that those people who took away the ability to act in the area of foreign policy are criticizing Foreign Minister Linkevičius, who is trying to restore the lost potential, seems to me unobjective, to say the least. The more so foreign diplomats' reaction to our current actions in the region is unambiguously positive. Minister Linkevičius' visit to Poland and his apology is compared by some diplomats to Algirdas Brazauskas visit to Israel," Pavilionis said.
"Personally for me, someone who worked closely with Lech Kaczynski's team, Minister Linkevičius' apology in Poland was if not an indulgence for what was done to Lithuania's best friend, then at least huge relief. As I was personally ashamed for what happened in Lithuania during Kaczynski's visit," the ambassador said.
In an interview to Polish dailies Rzeczpospolita and Gazeta Wyborcza last week, Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs apologized for the 2010 vote that rejected an initiative to allow Lithuania's Polish-speaking citizens to use original spelling of their names in official documents. Contributing to the controversy was the fact that the vote was held on the day of arrival of Poland's then President Lech Kaczynski.
"It is a big disgrace. President Lech Kaczynski was a good friend of Lithuania. Unfortunately, this happened during his visit. I was not a member of parliament at the time but I'd like to apologize," the minister said in an interview published by the Rzeczpospolita daily on Thursday.
"I am so ashamed of what happened at the time. It's a painful lesson for us," he told Gazeta Wyborcza.
Pavilionis was secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006-2009. He was appointed ambassador to the United States in July 2010.
