Lithuania's Prime Minister has asserted that organizers of a referendum on the ban of sale of Lithuanian land to foreigners are deceiving people

Social Democrat Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius has made a statement that organizers of the referendum on the ban of sale of Lithuanian land to foreigners are deceiving people. According to him, the people who are organizing it all are more than just slightly deceiving the public. Mr. Butkevičius clarified that no one is forced to sell land and no one is forced to buy land; it is instead the national property of people in Lithuania. The Prime Minister thinks that a person who wants to sell land, can successfully do it even now.

He warned that if the referendum was held and it was decided to ban the sale of land to foreigners, Lithuania could face serious financial penalties from the EU. The Prime Minister also sees interests of large landowners in the organization of the referendum. According to Mr. Butkevičius nobody could deny that those who have already purchased hundreds or thousands of acres of Lithuanian land are quite actively involved in this process and possibly are still hoping to buy more of the land by simply cheating some fellow countrymen.