Several hundred law enforcement officers rallied outside the Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday to protest what they say are insufficient salary increases and chronic staffing shortages, as lawmakers debate the 2026 government budget.
Officers wore stickers reading “Paper budget – paper security” and held cardboard cutouts symbolising “paper officers”. Signs carried slogans such as “Ill-considered reforms are destroying the special services!” “We demand fair pay for our work!” and “A shortage of 1,000 firefighters over 11 years has become the norm”.
The demonstration was part of the “Paper Security” campaign organised by the National Association of Officers’ Trade Unions (NAOTU) and its affiliates.
NAOTU chairwoman Ineta Kursevičienė accused politicians of ignoring repeated warnings about inadequate funding. “They keep saying they are doing something, but if that were true, we would see results. We are talking about window dressing,” she told reporters.
She said the government is failing to meet its pledge to raise officers’ salaries by an average of 7 percent next year. “If our demands are not met, we will lose a large number of officers next year,” she said.
Police Commissioner General Arūnas Paulauskas said such an outcome is possible, noting that about 200 officers leave the force each year. “We have streamlined our activities to such an extent that there is simply no more fat to trim,” he said. “We are squeezing the system like a lemon, and how long we can continue doing so is a rhetorical question.”
Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė met with union leaders on Monday but offered no commitments on salary increases. On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said proposed amendments would raise pay for the lowest-paid officers by 1–2 percent and adjust salary coefficients across all ranks.
Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič said the government is searching for additional funding. “Most likely the budget will return, and I hope there will be some additional injections we can put into it,” he said, calling officers’ protest a “normal democratic process”.
Union representatives, however, accused politicians of treating officers dismissively. Darijus Malysevas, vice-chairman of the Lithuanian Police Officers’ Trade Union, said lawmakers are reneging on verbal agreements. “This attitude is somewhere between cynical and childish,” he said.
Unions estimate next year’s budget for the interior system is short by at least €150 million. NAOTU figures show Lithuania lacks roughly 1,500 police officers, 1,000 firefighters, 200 Internal Security Service officers and 200 environmental protection officers.
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