A maverick politician veered from the national consensus, threatening to unravel the government’s parliamentary majority.
Support for Ukraine’s “victory” against Russia comes closest to a unanimous consensus among Lithuania’s governing elites. This consensus includes advocating for the country’s membership in NATO and the EU, and views suspiciously any suggestions of ceasefire talks with Russia or criticism of the form of support that Lithuania and other allies are providing to Kyiv.
Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who leads the second biggest group in the governing coalition, Nemunas Dawn, took aim at this consensus by suggesting that Ukraine is a corrupt country.
His comments came this week in an exchange over a recent decision by Lithuanian leaders to massively increase military spending. After Žemaitaitis expressed doubts about the expediency of spending 5-6 percent of GDP on defence, Parliament Speaker Saulius Skvernelis, who leads the Democrats “For Lithuania” party, quipped that any doubters should visit Ukraine.
Žemaitaitis did not let this go. “As for visiting Ukraine – it’s a great suggestion from the speaker. I can visit Ukraine, but I’ve no reason to go there. Unless one wants to master the skill of bribe-taking, corruption, armaments selling, selling out the state,” he commented to the Elta news agency on Wednesday.
The statement has drawn condemnation from coalition partners and the president.
Justinas Argustas, adviser to the prime minister, called the comments inappropriate and unjustifiable, adding that the Nemunas Dawn leader lost his temper.
The president’s adviser Frederikas Jansonas even raised the question of whether Žemaitaitis should stay in the governing coalition: “It is hard to imagine a country whose governing coalition has a partner who spouts such gems,” he was quoted by Elta.
Censure from coalition partners
On Thursday, leaders of the ruling parties’ parliamentary groups said the issue would be taken up in the coalition, going so far as to suggest Nemunas Dawn might be expelled.
“[A]fter such statements, everybody has to reaffirm their commitments to support Ukraine […]. This should not happen, no coalition partner – even if it has a significant share of the votes in the coalition – should push the entire coalition and the country into a corner,” MP Linas Kukuraitis, leader of the Democrats “For Lithuania” group, told Elta.
“The dynamic being what it is, it’s only a matter of time before someone will say that we cannot be together anymore,” he added about the possible break-up of the coalition with Nemunas Dawn.
Remigijus Motuzas, the leader of the Social Democratic group in the parliament, echoed the indignation.
“Indeed, I think the next meeting of the Coalition Council will discuss this. I think our leaders – the prime minister, the speaker of the Seimas – will also talk about it,” Motuzas, who also chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Elta on Thursday.
He conceded, however, that Žemaitaitis’ comments could have been just an emotional outburst: “Perhaps this is an emotional response to the accusation that you don’t understand the situation. [...] But on the other hand, we are politicians and we have to weigh every word we say.”
The Social Democrat-led ruling coalition and the government have committed to fully supporting Ukraine and helping rebuild the country after the war.
The coalition, which controls 85 seats in the 141-member parliament, consists of the Social Democrats (52 seats), Nemunas Dawn (19 seats), and the Democrats “For Lithuania” (14 seats).
If Nemunas Dawn were to leave the coalition, the Social Democrats would have to find another partner in order to maintain the majority.
Žemaitaitis’ statements have attracted controversy before. Last year, in a series of posts on social media, he criticised Israel for its actions in Gaza, while also suggesting that Jews were responsible for Soviet crimes in Lithuania (he is currently being investigated for hate speech). Law enforcement also looked at his comments urging supporters to storm the home of a conservative politician (the investigation was later dropped).
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