The Lithuanian government has taken several important decisions that affect both domestic political developments and cooperation with other countries, for example, for faster joining the common Western European electricity grid.
Scandal in municipalities shakes up the govenrment
As the scandal entangling many municipal politicians heats up in Lithuania, it might evolve into a political crisis, therefore, the government’s resignation is possible but it won’t also mean early general elections, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who also leads the ruling conservative Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, said on Friday, the 19th of May. The party is convening the party’s presidium on Friday to discuss, among other issues, whether the government should resign and early general elections should take place. It comes after Lithuanian Minister of Education, Science and Sport Jurgita Šiugždinienė said on Thursday, the 18th of May, it had handed in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė amid the ongoing local councillor payout scandal. Andrius Tapinas, a famous TV journalist, has revealed the rife misuse of the resources for local councillors.
President says he would testify to Seimas panel on SSD election checks
President Gitanas Nausėda said on Thursday, the 18th of May, he would agree to testify before a parliamentary commission, if one is set up to investigate how the country’s State Security Department carried out checks on his team during his presidential election campaign. The president says he does not want to leave any ambiguity in this case and reiterates that he did not ask the SSD for any checks, when he was a presidential candidate. Politicians have been mulling setting up such a commission in response to new details that emerged in the book The Whistleblower and the President by journalists Dovydas Pancerovas and Birutė Davidonytė, published in February. The debate may again be sparked by prosecutors’ decision on Thursday that the report submitted four years ago by an intelligence officer to Vytautas Bakas, the then chairman of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence, on the SSD leadership’s actions was inadequately investigated, and law enforcement authorities handed over the materials of its investigation to the Seimas. The whistleblower contacted Bakas in 2019. In The Whistleblower and the President, a SSD officer, who is no longer working for the SSD, claimed that, in July 2018, he received several sheets of paper with many names and a verbal order from the department’s deputy director Remigijus Bridikis to check one candidate’s election team and a list of possible supporters. It turned out that the list includes Nausėda’s supporters and associates.
President says he will seek re-lection
President Gitanas Nauseda told the public broadcaster LRT’s Dienos Tema program on Thursday, the 18th of May, that he would run for president again, if “more choice” was needed in 2024. He also reiterated that he would announce his decision at the end of this year. “You know, if I were to write down on a sheet of paper the reasons why I should not run for president in 2024, it would probably be a very long sheet of paper. But I also have huge responsibility to the country and I really see the situation in the country. And I think that our nation deserves more choice, so if more choice is needed, I will continue with my mission, but I cannot say that today,” the president Dienos Tema program.
Seimas holds local Communist Party accountable for deportations
The Seimas on Thursday, the 18th of May, recognised the Lithuanian Communist Party as responsible for Soviet mass deportations of people from Lithuania, highlighting historical links to the crimes of genocide currently being committed by Russia in Ukraine. The resolution passed the parliament in a vote of 97 to one with three abstentions. The document was initiated by a group of MPs from the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, the Farmers and Greens Union and the Liberal Movement. The document reads that the Lithuanian Communist Party “was responsible for the genocide-equivalent extermination of the Lithuanian population, the confiscation and appropriation of their property, and torture and deportations, which were planned in advance and deliberately carried out under its instructions by the occupying-repression structures in 1940-1963.”
LFGU leader signs parties’ defence pact on separate sheet of paper
Ramūnas Karbauskis, chairman of the opposition Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, on Thursday, the 18th of May, signed the agreement on defence and national security that was signed by the leaders of other parliamentary parties almost a year ago. He said the goal was to show there’s a consensus on defence and national security in Lithuania before the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius. However, he signed the agreement on a separate sheet of paper, not alongside the signatures of the other party leaders, as he was obliged to do so by the LFGU Council. With such a move, the LFGU wants to underline that “the ruling party’s policy on internal affairs is destructive and damages the state’s resistance to external threats”. The agreements and includes plans to earmark at least 2.5 percent GDP on defence and to gradually raise the percentage according to the needs of the national defence system. Moreover, it sets out plans to increase the number of conscripts, to accelerate the formation of the army reserve to reach the target of having up to 50,000 troops in the active reserve by 2030, to strengthen the Riflemen’s Union, to train citizens for resistance, to create a cyber force as a separate type of force within the army etc. The new agreement will be valid until 2030.
Lithuanian resort tourism reaches pre-pandemic levels
Tourism in Lithuanian resorts has already reached pre-pandemic levels, recovering faster than elsewhere in the country, Nijolė Dirginčienė, mayor of Birštonas and president of the Lithuanian Association of Resorts, said on Wednesday, the 17th of May. This proves the importance of resorts for the Lithuanian economy, so the state should allocate more economic recovery funds to them, according to the official. The towns of Birštonas, Druskininkai, Neringa and Palanga currently have the status of resorts in Lithuania. The towns of Anykščiai, Trakai and Zarasai, the settlements of Strigailiškis and Palušė in Ignalina District, and the towns of Kulautuva, Kačerginė and Zapyškis in Kaunas District have the status of resorts areas. Plateliai, a small town in Plunge District, expects to receive the status of a resort area. According to official statistics, the number of foreign nationals’ overnight stays in Lithuania more than doubled in 2022 from 2021 to 2.17 million, and the number of same-day trips increased more than two-fold to 2.56 million. However, the figures are still below those in pre-pandemic 2019, at 2.9 million and 3.3 million, respectively.
Government supports amendments to speed up synchronisation
The Lithuanian government on Wednesday, the 17th of May, backed amendments to allow Lithuania to synchronise its grid with Western European electricity networks in 2024 and to set legal conditions for more efficient implementation of the project. The amendments still need the parliament’s approval. Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys says the changes would create legal prerequisites to prepare for earlier disconnection of the country’s grid from the Russian-controlled IPS/UPS system. According to the Energy Ministry, in order to prepare Lithuania’s system for its connection with the European power networks in 2024, projects to increase its security must be implemented, and projects to increase the stability of the system and ensure integration with the EU internal market would be implemented later. Under the existing proposal, Lithuania’s electricity system will be ready for synchronisation in 2024 instead of the existing deadline of 2025.
MPs to get mobilisation training
Lithuanian lawmakers will undergo civil resistance and mobilization training at the Seimas on Wednesday, the 17th of May. Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence, who initiated the training, said that the exercise is aimed at assessing “how the state would look like in the event of a state of war and how that mobilisation would work”. The MP said he did not know how many lawmakers would take part in the training, adding that this event is one of the steps towards universal civil resistance training. It was reported in April that Lithuania had failed to approve a plan for the implementation of the civil resistance strategy over the past 11 months, and 3,000 people underwent special training last year.
President signs banking solidarity contribution bill into law
President Gitanas Nausėda on Monday, the 15th of May, signed the temporary banking solidarity contribution bill, adopted by the parliament last Tuesday, into law, the presidential office said on Monday. Such a levy was proposed as banks in Lithuanian are projected to earn more than 1 billion euros in profits this year, which is deemed unexpected as they profit from the European Central Bank’s policy of raising interest rates. Under the new law, the levy will amount to 60 percent of banks’ net interest income that exceeds the average of four regular financial years by more than 50 percent. The levy is expected to raise more than 400 million euros in revenue for the state. The money will be then used for defence and military and civilian transport infrastructure.
Week in Lithuania: Government sees a shake-up; President says he will seek re-lection in 2024
