Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said Tuesday she has decided to resign, arguing she cannot continue after Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė publicly expressed wavering confidence in her leadership.
“I have a draft statement [of resignation], and I will discuss it with the president today,” Šakalienė told reporters in the Seimas on Tuesday.
“At the moment, I see no reason to change my decision. This is politics – trust from the prime minister and the party leader are the things that essentially determine whether you can be delegated to do a certain job,” she added. “I don’t see any possibility of working in an environment where there is no trust.”
President asks not to resign yet
After her meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda, which lasted for almost an hour and a half, Šakalienė refrained from comments to the media.
Meanwhile, Nausėda’s adviser said that the president has asked Šakalienė not to submit her resignation for the time being.
“The minister has written her resignation letter, but the president has asked her not to submit it until it has been discussed with the prime minister tomorrow morning,” Deividas Matulionis told reporters after the president met with the defence minister on Tuesday. “The decision will depend on tomorrow's conversation.”
Criticism from the PM
Šakalienė met with Prime Minister Ruginienė on Monday. “The prime minister sent a message that her trust in me has faltered. I don’t quite understand how one can work in such an atmosphere,” Šakalienė told reporters after the meeting.
She added that she would consult with her team before making the decision to step down. “I work as part of a team – the people who left other jobs to join the ministry out of patriotism deserve to be part of the final decision,” she said.
Ruginienė last week demanded an explanation from Šakalienė regarding an informal Defence Ministry briefing for social media influencers about the 2026 defence budget, as well as her alleged connections with representatives of the defence industry.
Earlier Monday, Ruginienė announced that the Defence Ministry would lose responsibility for overseeing the defence industry. The Finance and Economy and Innovation ministries will now handle the portfolio, a move Šakalienė described as a “surprise.”
Further reading
Although Šakalienė said she knew nothing about the off-the-record meeting, both the prime minister and Social Democratic Party chairman Mindaugas Sinkevičius said they no longer trust her.
The controversy arose after the informal briefing led to online claims that the government was failing to meet its pledge to allocate 5% of GDP to defence. However, the latest draft state budget earmarks 5.38% of GDP, or €4.79 billion, for defence spending next year.
Šakalienė defended her record, saying she has maintained a “firm stance” on securing sufficient defence funding in talks with both the government and civic groups. “I see no reason to persecute or punish people who organised one or another off-the-record meeting,” she said.
She also disclosed that the government’s earlier plans in October projected 4.87% of GDP for the defence budget, while figures discussed over the summer were below 4%.
“The only reason I’m still in this position is my determination to ensure the strongest possible defence for our country,” Šakalienė said, adding that she has been hearing doubts about her from party leaders for months.
“No one can say what exactly I did wrong or where my competence failed the ministry,” she said. “I have only two things – my reputation and my competence. And if both are doubted, I have nothing else left.”
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