This institution found that President G. Nausėda and E. Bajarūnas violated the Law on Public and Private Interests when they visited the musical “Phantom of the Opera”.
“If I were to try to turn the pages of the hotter moments, the page where I would look for the foundations for these decisions is probably the one most related to the opera and the phantoms that visit it,” G. Landsbergis said in an interview with Delfi.
“That episode, unexpectedly for me (…), was painful for the president,” the minister added.
“I would say it was the axis. It has apparently transformed into (…) rather strict internal statements about the appointment,” the minister said, hinting that, in his understanding, the president and other individuals working in the diplomatic corps have similarly settled accounts.
One of them, G. Landsbergis asserted, is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simon Šatūnas. A few years ago, he was at the point of disagreement between the conservatives and the president regarding who should lead the Lithuanian representation in the EU.
As the minister explained, the Presidency was convinced during the pandemic that S. Šatūnas was able to convince the President of the European Commission that she would also mention Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė next to G. Nausėda’s name in her tweet thanking her for the smooth vaccination.
“The president, or rather his team, was convinced that in some magical way, Mr. Šatūnas was able to convince Ursula von der Leyen to change the tweet, and in this way his chances of becoming an ambassador were reduced to very low,” said G. Landsbergis.
“There were such situations, I was close to at least a few,” the politician added.
He is happy to be able to return to active domestic politics
However, as the minister explained, the closed door to the European Commission will allow him to express himself more actively in domestic politics. According to G. Landsbergis, he will do that in the near future.
“On the one hand, I am happy that I will be able to devote much more time to domestic politics. I think that this is a mature issue,” the minister said to Delfi.
“I got involved in the activities of the headquarters much more intensively. There are many issues in domestic politics that need to be addressed. I think that opening a new page, even if I didn’t write it myself, gives me wide opportunities,” the minister summed up his situation positively.
ELTA reminds that on Monday Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė presented to the coalition council the candidacy of MEP A. Kubilius for the European Commission (EC). According to her, this is the candidate for whom it was possible to find common ground with the president.
Minister of Foreign Affairs G. Landsbergis, who was previously discussed in the media and political corridors as a possible European Commissioner, told Elta last Friday that he had received information that President G. Nausėda would not approve his candidacy.
For his part, G. Nausėda himself testified that the decision not to appoint conservative leader G. Landsberis as Lithuania’s representative in the European Commission was not determined by revenge or personal reasons. The head of the country admitted that he did not like some of the mannerisms of the minister, who was projected to become a European commissioner, and the decision to concentrate only on foreign policy.
The nomination of the Eurocommissioner is submitted by the Government after the position has been agreed with the President and the Seimas.
2024-08-22 00:29:28