Lithuania did not extend Beinoras’ military service based on recommendations, says Šakalienė

Former defence minister Dovilė Šakalienė has stated that the decision not to extend Audrius Beinoras’ military service contract was made in line with recommendations from the armed forces, LRT reports.

Šakalienė, who no longer holds the position, said she does not recall the exact circumstances evaluated at the time and cannot verify them. She explained that the standard procedure requires a proposal from the commander of the armed forces and approval from a commission.

“I did not receive such a proposal, so I simply had to terminate his service period,” she told BNS on Tuesday.

She added that in this case, the negative recommendation from superiors and the commission’s decision—based on those recommendations—meant there was no submission from the military to extend Beinoras’ service.

Beinoras, who served in the Lithuanian military for three decades, has claimed his contract was not renewed out of retaliation. According to a report by news portal Delfi, the former deputy director of the Military Conscription and Recruitment Service (now the Military Commandant Offices Administration) alleges he faced repercussions for raising questions about procurement practices, including why services were repeatedly sourced from the same companies. He shared this information with the Prosecutor General’s Office, which granted him whistleblower status but declined to launch a pre-trial investigation into the procurements.

In 2024 and 2025, Beinoras questioned public procurements related to updates for the military conscription website Karys.lt. He argued that the tenders were designed to favour a single supplier, Fresh Media, which had originally developed the system. The tenders required working with the proprietary “Easy Web4” content management system, which only Fresh Media could operate. Fresh Media has denied these claims, stating that all necessary data for managing the website has been transferred to the defence system.

The Ministry of National Defence told Delfi that the current tender process is underway and that, while Karys.lt currently operates on a closed-source system, the new public procurement specifies that the website will transition to open-source software.

Beinoras also said he faced displeasure from leadership for questioning the distribution of souvenirs during some military exercises.

The ministry confirmed that last year, the Senior Officers’ Career Planning Commission assessed the needs and capabilities of the defence system and, considering recommendations from Beinoras’ direct and superior commanders not to extend his professional military service, submitted a corresponding proposal to then-minister Šakalienė, who approved the decision. Out of seven requests for service extensions reviewed at the time, Beinoras was the only one rejected.

Among the reasons cited was a disciplinary penalty Beinoras received for calling a subordinate a “loafer”—a fact he does not deny but considers the punishment unjust. He has appealed the decision in court.

During her tenure, Šakalienė initiated legal amendments to extend the service period for professional military personnel and raise the age at which soldiers are released into the reserves or discharged. Under these changes, the defence minister can extend a professional soldier’s contract by up to four years, even if the soldier has reached the prescribed retirement age. However, extensions are not automatic—they require a proposal from the commander of the armed forces, review by the Senior Officers’ Career Planning Commission, and final approval by the defence minister.

“My initiative was precisely to create the general possibility of extending a soldier’s service period, but the regulations also ensure that the military still has a say—it cannot be solely a political decision by the minister,” she said.