Lithuanian PM awaits legal assessment after ethics watchdog rules against coalition partner

Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė says she is waiting for a legal evaluation after Lithuania’s top ethics watchdog found that Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the ruling coalition’s Nemuno Aušra party, had “flagrantly” violated conflict-of-interest laws by leasing his personal car to his own party, public broadcaster LRT reports.

“As far as I know, the Office of the Chief Official Ethics Commission [VTEK] has referred the case to the Prosecutor General’s Office, and I believe this is the right step,” Ruginienė told journalists on Wednesday. “The Prosecutor General’s Office will have broader powers to conduct an investigation and answer all remaining questions. We will await that assessment.”

Asked whether Nemuno Aušra could remain in the governing coalition, the prime minister stated that a decision would follow only after prosecutors conclude their review.

The ethics watchdog ruled that Žemaitaitis had participated in party discussions about leasing his own vehicle without recusing himself and failed to disclose the rental agreement in a timely manner. VTEK has launched administrative proceedings to determine whether his actions constitute a misdemeanour warranting a fine.

Additionally, the commission referred the case to prosecutors to examine whether the rental contract—worth €31,500 over 10 months—contained elements of criminal misconduct or justified legal action in the public interest. Žemaitaitis has dismissed the ruling as “of zero value” and denied any wrongdoing.

According to BNS, the agreement was signed on January 17, 2024, with monthly payments exceeding €3,100, but was only made public on January 29, 2026. Žemaitaitis defended the arrangement, citing high fuel and maintenance costs, and noted that the contract was terminated once Nemuno Aušra secured state funding—€483,700 in 2025—as a parliamentary party.

The Liberal Movement had previously called for investigations by electoral, tax, and ethics authorities into potential violations of political financing laws. While the Seimas Ethics Committee declined to probe the allegations in February, a pre-trial fraud investigation was opened in Vilnius the following month. Separately, the Central Electoral Commission withheld state funding from Nemuno Aušra over accounting irregularities, a decision the party has appealed in court.