Lithuanian parliament rejects investigation into data breach at state registry centre

The Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday rejected a proposal to launch a parliamentary investigation into the theft of personal data from the state Registry Centre, following a vote where lawmakers failed to secure sufficient support, LRT reports.

The opposition-led initiative to establish a temporary investigative commission received 49 votes in favour—falling short of the required majority—while 12 lawmakers opposed it and 44 abstained. Support came primarily from 24 conservative Homeland Union members, nine liberals, eight democrats, two from the Nemuno Aušra faction, and six unaffiliated MPs.

Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen had initially backed the commission in writing but later called it a “personal mistake,” arguing that lawmakers should await the conclusions of the ongoing criminal investigation by prosecutors. Most social democrats abstained during the plenary session.

Opposition factions had sought to address 19 key questions through the probe, focusing on political accountability for the breach, which exposed over 600,000 real estate registry records—including personal identification numbers—after unauthorised access via compromised Migration Department accounts. Investigators suspect foreign actors may have exploited the stolen data.

The Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed in May that the breach began as early as January, though the Registry Centre only detected it in April and disclosed it publicly in late May. The proposed commission would have examined whether negligence or potential collusion by officials enabled the attack, as well as risks to national security from possible foreign exploitation of the data.

Before the vote, Homeland Union leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas predicted the measure would fall just short of the necessary support. The opposition had also aimed to assess whether institutional responses to the breach were adequate or marred by inaction.