Lithuanian president not informed about data breach despite prime minister’s knowledge

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda was not notified about the mass data leak at the country’s Centre of Registers, despite Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and other officials being aware of the breach before it was made public, LRT reports.

Nausėda’s office confirmed on Monday that the president had attempted to check whether his personal data was exposed in the leak but was unable to access the system due to technical failures. “The president plans to verify again when time allows and the system functions properly,” his office stated. Officials added that Nausėda had not been informed of the incident at all.

Prime Minister Šimonytė also failed to check her data exposure status on Monday morning, with her office citing system overload. She intends to verify later. Seimas Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen and Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis declined to comment, while Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas confirmed his data was not among the leaked records—though he stressed the breach remained unacceptable.

Nausėda condemned the security failure, calling it “intolerable” in the current geopolitical climate. “This incident clearly shows that the security measures in place were insufficient and geopolitical risks were underestimated,” he said in a statement. He emphasised that protecting critical state infrastructure is a national priority requiring immediate action.

The data breach, first reported last Friday, may have exposed over 600,000 property registry records, with estimated damages exceeding €111,000. Former Centre of Registers director Adrijus Jusas, who resigned on Monday, claimed the leak was detected in early April but that legal restrictions tied to an ongoing pre-trial investigation prevented earlier disclosure. He said the Economy Ministry and the National Crisis Management Centre were informed at the time.

Opposition leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the breach, criticising the government’s delayed response.