Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė announced Monday that responsibility for overseeing the country’s defence industry will be transferred to the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, following tensions with Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė.
“We just had a working discussion and parted ways with the minister. It’s a very unpleasant situation we’ve found ourselves in, especially regarding the budget. It’s no secret that this was the last drop in a full cup,” Ruginienė told reporters after the meeting.
“I have therefore decided to transfer the defence industry portfolio to the leading ministries – the Economy and Innovation Ministry and the Finance Ministry. From now on, these ministries will oversee this file,” she said, adding that a formal directive will be issued soon.
Tensions between the prime minister and Šakalienė came into the open with media reports about the Defence Ministry’s apparent attempts to press for more military funding via public pressure.
Last week, the ministry held an informal presentation of the 2026 defence budget for military bloggers and influencers. Following the event, several posts appeared online claiming the government had failed to deliver on its promise to allocate 5 percent of GDP for defence. Šakalienė denied knowledge of the meeting.
Ruginienė said she values openness and expects transparency and accountability from all ministers.
“I would very much like for all emerging issues to be resolved together, as a team, not through the media,” she said. “It’s very unfortunate that, despite our strong efforts to strengthen defence, we ended up in an internal information war.”
The prime minister said she and Šakalienė discussed many issues during their meeting, but admitted her confidence in the defence minister had been shaken.
“I have quite a few questions and will need more time to get answers – not only about the event where inaccurate information was presented, but also about other matters,” Ruginienė said.
According to the draft 2026 state budget, defence spending is set at 5.38 percent of GDP, exceeding the government’s stated goal. Šakalienė has said the proposed funding is sufficient to meet Lithuania’s core defence commitments, although her ministry had requested slightly more.
Social Democratic Party leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius called the informal presentation a “strange genre”, while Ruginienė described it as “sabotage” and “a misunderstanding”, saying she would not allow political manoeuvring in such a critical area as national defence.
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