Opposition demands political accountability after head of Lithuania’s Centre of Registers resigns

The resignation of Adrijus Jusas, director of Lithuania’s Centre of Registers, following a mass data breach has prompted opposition leaders to call for political accountability from Economics and Innovation Minister Edvinas Grikšas, LRT reports.

Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), acknowledged Jusas’s resignation as “the right step” but insisted the minister must also answer for the failure. “In democratic states, ministers assume political responsibility for scandals in their areas of oversight,” Kasčiūnas wrote on Facebook, criticising the government’s tendency to reduce accountability to criminal liability alone.

He further demanded explanations from Interior Minister Vladislavas Kondratovičius and Migration Department officials, accusing them of attempting to “bury the problem” and shield a high-ranking Social Democrat appointee. “The opposition will not allow this serious issue to be swept under the rug,” Kasčiūnas stated.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, acting chairman of the Democrats “For Lithuania” party, argued that replacing the centre’s leadership fails to address systemic neglect. “The real question is why the Centre of Registers was left without resources to ensure data and cybersecurity,” he told ELTA, questioning whether Grikšas failed to secure necessary funding from Prime Minister Ingrida Ruginienė.

Sinkevičius drew parallels with pre-war Ukraine, where similar data leaks occurred, warning that the breach—affecting some 600,000 individuals, including state officials—poses severe risks. He criticised Grikšas for evading responsibility in a morning address, calling instead for “political leadership and concrete answers” on why earlier funding requests were ignored.

The scandal surfaced last week when law enforcement launched an investigation into the potential leak of real estate registry data. Prime Minister Ruginienė had publicly urged Jusas to step down, a move Sinkevičius called unusually decisive for a government often accused of indecisiveness.