Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė said Wednesday that the travel expenses of her husband and children for an upcoming working visit to Italy will be covered by the Government Office, as the entire family will carry out official functions during the trip.
“It is the case that the prime minister has state functions, and often, according to protocol and rules, the prime minister’s family must also perform state functions,” Ruginienė told a news conference at the government headquarters.
“I am very pleased that my family does not refuse but accepts this challenge and carries out these functions. We are going on a state visit as a family because the invitation was received for the family from the Vatican, from the pope, and we will carry out these procedures and, I hope, properly represent Lithuania,” she said.
Ruginienė is scheduled to visit the Vatican City and Rome on March 6-8.
The official delegation accompanying the prime minister will include her husband, Vismantas Ruginis; adviser Ingrida Kutkienė; Foreign Ministry representative Andrius Macijauskas; Lithuania’s ambassador to the Holy See, Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė; First Deputy Chancellor of the Government Justas Pankauskas; and the head of the prime minister’s office, Elžbieta Žurovska-Puodžiūnienė.
The couple’s son and daughter are also listed as accompanying persons.
The travel expenses of delegation members will be covered by the Government Office and the respective institutions they represent.
According to Lrytas.lt and Delfi.lt, former Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis also travelled to the Vatican with his family but covered his family’s expenses himself.
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