Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys says that the presence of the Nemunas Dawn party in the country’s ruling coalition is damaging Lithuania’s international reputation, particularly given that the party’s leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, is on trial for antisemitic statements and faces a new investigation.
“It does have an impact – I can confirm that,” Budrys told the news outlet 15min in an interview published on Wednesday. “Assessing how serious the damage is or what could be done differently is for others to decide, because I could easily slip into political speculation. But yes, there is an impact, especially when speaking with our closest allies.”
Budrys said the very need to discuss the issue shows the extent of the harm.
“The fact that we even have to talk about this already has an impact,” he said.
The latest controversy was triggered by a Facebook post from Žemaitaitis, in which he called Arūnas Gelūnas, director of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and a leader in ongoing protests against his party, “an organiser of attempted coups – a member of a convicted party” and speculated about Gelūnas’ alleged Jewish origin.
“That is absolutely vile and disgusting,” Budrys said. “It saddens me that the person who was called a Jew – which in itself should not be used as an argument – feels compelled to explain that he is not Jewish, as if that were somehow a bad thing.”
The minister said the episode highlights persistent problems with antisemitism in Lithuanian society.
“No matter how much we claim that things have changed, such statements, actions, and reactions show that we are sick as a society and must act to eliminate these symptoms and their roots,” Budrys said. “Stereotypes about supposed Jewish conspiracies and displays of xenophobia are a malignant growth, a cancer in our society.”
The president, the parliamentary speaker, the prime minister, the Social Democratic Party, and several opposition parties also condemned Žemaitaitis’ comments as antisemitic and hateful.
Police said Saturday that they had launched a pre-trial investigation into the Facebook post on suspicion of hate speech.
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