This was reported on Friday by the newspaper “Lietuvos rytas”, which managed to find the politician’s secret residence.
Journalists immediately bombarded the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) with questions after this publication, but did not receive any response until Tuesday.
The opportunity to interview the conservative leader finally came on Tuesday, as an extraordinary parliamentary session was held in the Seimas. G. Landsberg’s agenda indicated that the minister intended to participate in it.
The extraordinary meeting started at noon, but G. Landsberg’s seat remained empty.
He was not present during the swearing-in of the new ministers of health and agriculture, nor during the request of general prosecutor Nida Grunskienė to cancel the immunity of the conservative Andrias Vyšniauskas, who has suspended his membership in the party, nor during other issues.
Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s chair was also empty in the Seimas meeting hall for a while. Her agenda stated that the Prime Minister should arrive at Parliament at 1:30 p.m. I.Šimonytė, who appeared in the Seimas a little earlier than planned, ran past the journalists and shot back without stopping to comment.
Portal lrytas.lt interviewed conservatives claimed that G. Landsbergis did not join the 11 o’clock remote meeting of the TS-LKD faction. When asked where their party leader had gone, the Conservatives just shrugged.
“I don’t know, I didn’t see it at the meeting of the faction, as if it wasn’t there,” conservative Matas Maldeikis tried to revive his memory.
Conservative Jurgis Razma considered that perhaps G. Landsbergis is still on vacation, but when journalists clarified that his vacation ended last week, the politician raised other versions, that ministers are not very exemplary visitors to Seimas meetings.
“I didn’t notice,” J. Razma said when asked if G. Landsbergis participated in the meeting of the TS-LKD faction.
“We understand that the foreign minister apparently has important things to do, especially, as I found out here, after the vacation that just ended, so we are not surprised that he is not there,” pondered the temporary elder of the conservative group.
However, Mr. Razma did not doubt that the minister would have to answer the questions about his villa in Greece.
“It would be impossible to imagine that you will see the end of the term without answers. I think he will definitely come to the next meetings and you will have him here with those questions. If the public has questions, if the media has questions, it is always the politician’s duty to answer. In this case, that need is obvious,” explained the conservative.
When asked if he himself and the conservatives in general had questions about the purchases of the G. Landsbergis family, J. Razma said that he had heard that the processes of acquiring a villa in Greece started earlier than February 2022.
“It just so happened that the money was transferred in February. I think that all the details would be clearer for both you and everyone after G. Landsberg’s explanation,” said J. Razma.
Requested unpaid leave
Although G. Landsberg’s agenda indicated that he intends to attend an extraordinary session of the Seimas on Tuesday, it turned out that on Friday, when a publication about his family’s villa in Greece appeared, he asked Prime Minister I. Šimonytė for an additional week of vacation.
As indicated on the Government’s website, the Prime Minister signed a decree on Friday, which released G. Landsbergis on unpaid leave on August 12-14 and 16.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs was on vacation last week as well, it is true that these were his scheduled days off.
“Probably people have the right to ask for free leave, and if I can provide it, I will. Apparently, this is not the only minister who is currently on vacation,” I.Šimonytė cut short after finally agreeing to answer the journalists’ questions.
The opposition has already prepared a stack of questions for the minister. Signatures were collected in the Seimas on Tuesday, obliging G. Landsbergis to publicly answer the questions prepared by the opposition in the parliamentary meeting hall. This initiative was taken by the representative of the Mixed Group of Parliamentarians, Agnė Širinskienė.
Only ten members of the Seimas had to sign the document, so A. Širinskienė collected the signatures easily. However, G. Landsbergis will have time to prepare until the fall, when the new parliamentary work season begins.
“Lietuvos rytas” found out that shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine, G. Landsberg’s family bought a luxurious residence on one of the islands belonging to Greece. Impressive real estate – buildings and a large plot of land – is registered in the name of the politician’s wife Austėja Landsbergienė.
A. Landsbergienė, the wife of the minister, purchased a large plot of land and two buildings on it – a 313 square meter house with two outdoor terraces and a 23 square meter house – in 2022. Announced, 255 thousand. an advance of EUR 100,000 was paid in February of that year.
Rumors about the residence of the minister’s family abroad have been circulating for some time, but the politician and his wife persistently hid it.
The 2022 and 2023 asset declarations submitted by 46-year-old A. Landsbergienė fueled the speculation even more. A businesswoman managing a network of private educational institutions declared that she owns real estate abroad worth 795 thousand. euros.
Even then, G. Landsbergis and his wife avoided talking to journalists about the property they bought abroad, and when they received questions about it, they did not answer them directly, instead they were silent.
“Minister, you talk a lot about the threats of war and at the same time your family declares high-value real estate purchased abroad. I want to ask, in which country was that property purchased?” asked peasant Aurelijus Veryga in the Seimas meeting hall in April.
The leader of the conservatives again avoided direct answers and urged the peasant less to browse pro-Russian pages and distribute their content.
“What you are saying is not true and it has been denied publicly. What is declared is declared, but everything else you say is untrue”, G. Landsbergis retorted and added that until now he considered A. Verygas a decent person, and whether his opinion will change will depend on the efforts of this politician.
As “Lietuvos rytas” reports after visiting the island of Aegina, the Landsbergi residence is well hidden from prying eyes. As you pass by, you can’t see either the villa or the yard of the Lithuanian politician’s family. Everything is surrounded by a high brick fence.
The only narrow road leading to the house ends at the gate.
2024-08-14 06:00:57