Lithuanian intel agency recommends denying security clearance to MP Bradauskas

Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) has advised Saulius Skvernelis, the speaker of the parliament, to deny Nemunas Dawn party MP Dainoras Bradauskas clearance to access information classified as secret.

Skvernelis’ spokeswoman Ramunė Muzikevičiūtė-Narmontienė confirmed the recommendation to BNS on Friday, saying the speaker plans to make a final decision on Monday.

“I can confirm that the speaker has received a negative assessment. He’ll make his decision on Monday,” she said.

BNS was unable to reach either Bradauskas or Nemunas Dawn leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis for comment.

The news was first reported by the Delfi.lt.

Bradauskas, a former head of the State Tax Inspectorate, needed clearance to access classified information because he currently sits on the Commission for Parliamentary Scrutiny of Criminal Intelligence.

Under a decree from the speaker of the Seimas, members of this commission must be cleared to handle classified material.

Bradauskas was fired as tax chief in 2017 due to his conversations with Raimondas Kurlianskis, then vice president of the MG Baltic business group (now MG Group).

At the time, Kurlianskis was under surveillance in a corruption probe, and his conversations with Bradauskas were recorded as part of that investigation.

In the recordings, Bradauskas told the MG Baltic executive that he had “normal” ties with the conservatives, liberals and Social Democrats and that he had the Labour Party and the Order and Justice party “by the balls”.

Based on the recordings, a Finance Ministry commission concluded that Bradauskas had undermined the State Tax Inspectorate’s authority, discredited the civil service, and created preferential conditions for a particular taxpayer.

Last month, Skvernelis denied clearance to handle classified information to Žemaitaitis, acting on a similar recommendation from the VSD.

Following the negative recommendation, the speaker was expected to propose removing the Nemunas Dawn leader from the Lithuanian parliament’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. However, the proposal was eventually removed from the parliament’s agenda.