Lithuanian president criticises minister‘s Facebook posts about German tanks

President Gitanas Nausėda has criticised Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas for sharing information on Lithuania’s plans to sign a letter of intent on the acquisition of Leopard tanks.

On Wednesday, Nausėda visited a military town under construction in the Šilalė district. Asked about the purchase of tanks for the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Nausėda said that this information was spread “not entirely correctly”.

“We agreed in the State Defence Council that things that are of restricted use should be of restricted use and should not be shared on Facebook right after the meeting,” the president said.

“I understand that it may seem to some to be a very important part of the job to share the freshest information on Facebook, but it really should not be the primary function of a minister or any other public official. Especially since you always have to think about the secondary consequences of making such information public,” he added.

Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas told journalists after the State Defence Council (VGT) meeting on Monday that Lithuania “will sign a letter of intent with German manufacturers” on the acquisition of Leopard tanks.

He later explained on Facebook that “the Lithuanian Armed Forces looked into German Leopard, American Abrams, and Korean Black Panther tanks” and chose the German tanks because they meet “the operational requirements set by the Lithuanian Defence Staff best”.

Leopard 2 tank | AP nuotr.

“It’s a pity that we have to keep reminding the seemingly grown-up people who are members of VGT about this [not sharing information]. I hope we will draw the right conclusions,” Nausėda said.

Opposition members of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK) have also criticised Aušauskas’ statements for reducing Lithuania’s bargaining power.

“If I say in advance that I want this item, the seller will certainly raise the price of the item. But if you talk to several sellers of the same item, you have more bargaining power,” Saulius Skvernelis, chair of the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania“ and member of NSGK, told ELTA news agency.