Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union stops pushing for promised deputy minister posts

The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) will no longer seek to fill its two allocated deputy minister positions in the Agriculture Ministry, vice-chair Ligita Girskienė told BNS on Wednesday, calling the process of negotiating with coalition partners “exhausting.”

Girskienė stated that the two newly appointed deputy ministers—Rolandas Taraškevičius and Valdemaras Liorenšaitis—were not nominated by LVŽS but by the ruling “Nemuno aušra” (Dawn of Nemunas) faction. “This is ‘Nemuno aušra’s ministry—they simply proposed their own people,” she said. “We’re done with the begging, the disputes, the pleading. If people don’t understand our requests in Lithuanian, then so be it. The time will come when we make our position clear.”

Under the coalition agreement, LVŽS was entitled to two deputy minister posts in the Agriculture Ministry but currently holds only one. Social Democrats had previously offered the party an advisory role instead of a second deputy minister position.

LVŽS leader Aurelijus Veryga last week urged Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė to resolve the dispute swiftly, framing it as “a matter of the prime minister’s courage and integrity.” Girskienė noted that the party had proposed two of its faction members for the roles, but the ruling majority rejected the candidates, citing a lack of available positions.

The conflict escalated after LVŽS-nominated deputy minister Artūras Pekauskas and ministerial advisor Mindaugas Petkevičius were removed from their posts in the “Nemuno aušra”-led Agriculture Ministry. Veryga had accused the faction of pressuring LVŽS to accept an additional “Nemuno aušra” deputy minister in the Economy and Innovation Ministry, threatening to dismiss the party’s remaining agriculture deputy minister if demands were not met.

Two LVŽS-Seimas faction members, Ignas Vėgėlė and Rimas Jonas Jankūnas, announced their departure from the party group on Tuesday.