Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė has lost confidence in Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė, presidential adviser Deividas Matulionis said Wednesday, signalling that the minister is likely to lose her post.
Ruginienė later confirmed she has decided to sack the defence minister.
“Today I informed the president of my decision to propose the defence minister’s dismissal. I did so verbally, and a written submission will follow shortly,” Ruginienė told reporters at the Presidential Palace.
“Sometimes circumstances force us to make very painful decisions, but I cannot allow such misunderstandings and issues to occur in a field as important as defence. My goal is to ensure the ministry functions smoothly,” she added.
Ruginienė underlined that she herself is initiating Šakalienė’s dismissal without having received a resignation letter from the minister.
Ruginienė earlier acknowledged that her trust in Šakalienė had been “seriously shaken”. Šakalienė herself admitted it would be difficult to continue serving in the Cabinet without the prime minister’s confidence. However, President Gitanas Nausėda has asked the minister not to submit her resignation for now.
Šakalienė told lawmakers earlier this week that she saw no way to continue in government without the backing of both Ruginienė and Social Democratic Party Chairman Mindaugas Sinkevičius. She said she had already written a resignation letter but promised not to submit it before speaking with the president.
The rift between the two officials emerged after an informal meeting was held at the Defence Ministry on October 14 for social media influencers. Participants were reportedly told that defence funding in 2026 would amount to only 4.87% of GDP, below the government’s stated goal of 5%.
That same day, political commentator Marius Laurinavičius wrote on Facebook accusing the government of “sabotaging Lithuania’s defence” by allegedly failing to allocate the promised 5% of GDP for defence spending.
Defence blogger Aleksandras Matonis also claimed that the Finance Ministry, led by the ruling Social Democrats, was pushing a budget plan that would cut 2026 defence spending by €500 million and reduce funding by nearly €2 billion by 2029.
Meawhile, Ruginienė announced on October 15 that Lithuania would allocate 5.38% of GDP – about €4.79 billion – for defence next year. The figure includes €700 million from the State Defence Fund, €25 million of which will go to civil protection and an unspecified portion to military mobility projects. The announcement raised questions about whether some of the funds are being counted toward dual-use rather than strictly military purposes.
Ruginienė initially described Šakalienė’s actions as “sabotage”, later calling them a “misunderstanding”. Social Democratic leaders believe Šakalienė sought to pressure the government to increase defence spending by using media figures to shape public opinion.
Šakalienė denied organising the influencers’ meeting but said a good defence minister must fight for the defence budget. The prime minister and party chairman rejected her explanation.
After meeting with Armed Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Raimundas Vaikšnoras and Šakalienė on Monday, PM Ruginienė said her confidence in the minister had “significantly eroded”. She announced that oversight of defence industry policy would be transferred from the Defence Ministry to the Economy and Finance ministries.
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