Political bickering between the ruling Homeland Union party and President Gitanas Nausėda over who should represent Lithuania at the European Council has started "damaging the country’s reputation", former president Dalia Grybauskaitė said on Tuesday.
“In my opinion, constitutional arguments related to participation are in favour of the president, irrespective of the specific persons, whether you like them or not,” she told reporters. “Political arguments point to the need for constructive dialogue and a joint decision.”
"Meanwhile, we see intolerance demonstrated openly in public from each party and this damages the reputation of the state for sure,” she told reporters in the Seimas on Tuesday.
Grybauskaitė was invited to the parliament on the occasion of Nausėda’s second annual address, which he delivered earlier on Tuesday.
Asked to comment on the address, the former president said that she sought “not to rate the president or his speeches”.
“I’d only like to say that the year was difficult, for all of us, including the president – the pandemic and foreign policy challenges, as well as tensions that have emerged both within the country and at our borders with at least two aggressive neighbours,” Grybauskaitė added.
The conservative Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) began to raise the representation issue after winning last autumn's parliamentary election.
The conservatives are considering adopting a law that would allow sending Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė to the EU summits. The initiators say the PM would be better suited to discuss issues that fall within the government’s purview.
Critics, however, maintain that the conservatives are using double standards in a bid to expand their influence.
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