G. Nausėda about the drama regarding A. Anušauskas: decisions depend on the psychological and emotional state of the coalition

“This is one of the candidates, not the only one,” G. Nausėda told journalists in Kaunas.

“All possible candidates must be evaluated through the prism of the smooth work of the Ministry of National Defense and the entire system, so I will evaluate the candidates according to these criteria,” he said.

The president did not name other candidates.

On Friday, A. Anušauskas submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyta, and on Saturday, after the meeting with the President, he stated that the Prime Minister offered him to exchange duties with the chairman of one Seimas committee.

The Prime Minister will meet the President on Monday.

“In chess terms, castling is only possible when there are no pieces between the king and the rook. In this case, it is not the Head of the Government who decides whether Mr. Anušauskas can become the chairman of NSGK or not, it is the decision of the Seimas”, said G. Nausėda.

Calls on the coalition to assess whether it can work

The leaders of the partners of the ruling coalition of conservatives – the Liberal Movement and the Freedom Party – said on Saturday that they had not been informed about the change in the leadership of the Ministry of National Defense.

G. Nausėda said that he is worried about the “emotional instability” that has recently afflicted the Government.

“And I’m not only talking about this case, but also about disagreements between individual members of the Government, disagreements with coalition partners,” said the president.

According to him, the ruling coalition must assess its ability to continue working.

“I think it is primarily in their own interest to clarify ambiguities among themselves, not to raise these issues.” santa barbarians to the public and tell the people of Lithuania whether they are capable of continuing to work”, said G. Nausėda.

“Now is not the time for any perversions or drastic changes when there are a few months left before the regular Seimas elections. We are interested in stability, but we are certainly not interested in new emotional waves every week,” he added.

A. Anušauskas’ information about corruption is worrying

G. Nausėda also stated that he intends to further clarify the manifestations of corruption in the national defense system, after A. Anušauskas spoke about it after the meeting with him on Saturday.

The politician claimed that he “had to close the doors to companies” that tried to bribe employees of the national defense system.

According to him, those companies “found an open door to other politicians”, and in some cases of particularly gross interference in public procurement, law enforcement had to be introduced as well.

The minister refused to name specific cases of bribery, companies and politicians.

G. Nausėda said that he was informed about the attempts of some NSGK members to interfere in public procurement.

“This is very serious and I’m not going to leave it that simple,” the president said. “Of course, it will be necessary to talk to the head of the Special Investigation Service about the nature and seriousness of these matters.”

“It’s a pity, it’s clear that Mr. Anušauskas shared his doubts only now, he could have done that earlier and we would have paid attention immediately,” he said.

The head of the country said that he hopes to quickly find solutions for the new minister of national defense, because “the national defense system is the foundation of our security and stability”, and it must work smoothly and “function independently of any political currents”.

According to him, the new minister will have to deal with further challenges related to the reception of the German brigade in Lithuania, the modernization of the army, the change of the army command at the end of the term of the commander General Valdemars Rupšis.

Ministers in Lithuania are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister.