2024-04-07 13:53:27
“This was Mrs. Budrytė’s testimony, she confirmed that the Nikitins brothers visited the headquarters. However, the commission found more cases when both the president himself and people close to him met with representatives of Belarusian business, one of them being the aforementioned persons (Nikitinai – ELTA),” V. Bakas told Elta.
“It was not some random phenomenon, the relationship was systemic. Neither the public nor the decision-makers were informed about them,” he added.
A. Budrytė told the commission that election financing and campaign issues were discussed in the meetings held at the headquarters. However, she did not reveal that the Nikitins brothers also participated in several of them. A. Budrytė emphasized that the headquarters was open to everyone, and the recent businessmen were not its official members.
According to V. Bak, the president is silent about his own meetings with representatives of the Belarusian fertilizer business.
“By denying that he met with representatives of Belarusian fertilizers, the president would be telling a lie,” the politician explained.
At that time, G. Nausėda, who was at the epicenter of the parliamentary investigation, rejects any suspicions of connections with Belarusian fertilizer business representatives, brothers Andrii and Vilius Nikitin.
“I did not communicate with the Nikitins brothers. If I understand correctly, there was some confirmed or unconfirmed fact about one of my team members. But that team member, at the time when we discussed the issue of sanctions, was no longer working at the Presidency,” G. Nausėda told journalists after the findings of the parliamentary investigation were published.
However, the commission’s conclusions state that several dozen persons who pose risks to national security, who maintain relations with Russian and Belarusian intelligence services, diplomats, politicians, and business representatives were identified in the environment of President G. Nausėda.
“Gitanas Nausėda himself, 2018-2019 during the period, he met with persons engaged in the Belarusian fertilizer business and managers (shareholders) and representatives of business companies”, the conclusion states.
It is noted that the members of G. Nausėda’s team, who testified to the commission and held high positions in the Office of the President, concealed this information. As a result, the parliamentary commission intends to apply to the prosecutor’s office.
For its part, the Department of State Security (VSD) issued a press release this week explaining that the commission’s statements about the risk-taking persons in the president’s environment do not correspond to the truth.
“It should be emphasized that the Commission’s statement that a few dozen persons posing risks to the interests of national security were identified in G. Nausėda’s environment is clearly untrue and contradicts the explanations of the intelligence officers who testified to the Commission and other materials submitted to the Commission,” states the argumentation submitted to the VSD.
ELTA reminds that the Seimas intends to make a decision on the conclusions of the parliamentary commission already next week.
They include, among other things, suggestions related to the parliamentary inquiry conducted. The Seimas is urged to consider amendments to the Law on Intelligence Controllers, giving the ombudsman the rights and duty to supervise the legality of the activities of institutions performing criminal intelligence. It is also proposed to strengthen the parliamentary control of VSD and STT, to review the legal regulation of parliamentary control, so that the institutions are obliged to provide all necessary information to the Seimas. Among the recommendations are calls to ensure the role of the Seimas in appointing and dismissing VSD and STT heads and their deputies.
G. Nausėda was quick to react to the conclusions of the parliamentary investigation. According to the Presidency, this is a “desperate attempt to influence the results of the presidential election” and at the same time an attempt to “discredit the state and its constitutional principles”. Daukantas Square assures that the temporary commission of the Seimas is politicized, and the presented conclusions are directed not only against the president, but also against many state institutions.
2024-04-07 13:53:27