Budrio’s future in foreign ministry to be decided after Wednesday meeting

Prime minister candidate Mindaugas Sinkevičius has said that the future of Kęstutis Budrys as foreign minister will be clarified after a meeting of politicians on Wednesday, LRT reports.

“We plan to meet on Wednesday,” Sinkevičius told journalists on Monday. Asked whether Budrys’ future in the post would be decided after the meeting, he added: “That is probably the essence of this meeting.”

According to the Social Democratic Party leader, the discussion will focus on priorities and foreign policy directions. “I would like these views to align so that there are no divergences along the way. Of course, there are several actors here: the president, the government, which implements foreign policy, but it would be good if, in a small country, different institutions shared the same vision and agreed,” Sinkevičius said.

Sinkevičius also stated that he has at least three candidates for the position of environment minister. “We have at least three candidates,” he told journalists at the Seimas on Monday. However, he noted that the final candidates for this and other ministries led by the Social Democrats will be announced after the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) presidium meeting on Tuesday.

“We will have to wait until either Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning,” he said. “We plan to do it tomorrow, we haven’t convened yet, but we will probably do it remotely and have some answers at least to formalise the process.”

Sinkevičius expressed confidence that Linas Kukuraitis, the proposed health minister, will manage the role effectively. “I think he will definitely handle the job. He has experience in ministerial work. The Ministry of Social Security and Labour is no less complex than the Ministry of Health. I think he has not lost his skills and has improved significantly while working in the Seimas,” he said.

President Gitanas Nausėda submitted Sinkevičius’ candidacy for prime minister to the Seimas last Thursday. Parliament will vote on the nomination on Tuesday.

The ruling coalition, comprising the Seimas’ LSDP, the Democratic Union “For Lithuania,” and the joint LVŽKŠS faction, has divided the management of ministries. The Democrats have been assigned the ministries of Energy, Health, and Agriculture. The joint “peasant” faction will retain leadership of the Ministries of Justice and Economy and Innovation. The Social Democrats will delegate ministers to the remaining ministries.