Pavilionis denies conservatives held talks on embassy situation

Conservative lawmaker Žygimantas Pavilionis has denied that representatives of his party held talks with staff at Lithuania’s embassy in the United States about the situation and internal processes there, LRT reported.

The statement came after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Seimas Ethics and Procedures Commission to assess whether Pavilionis had confused public and private interests in his communications with embassy employees.

“The Foreign Ministry claims in its appeal that representatives of the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats are seeking to hold talks with staff at the Lithuanian embassy in the United States about the situation and internal processes at the mission. This information is false, because the party did not hold any special talks with the embassy about these matters. The talks did not take place, as Foreign Ministry representatives have also publicly acknowledged,” Pavilionis wrote on Facebook.

The ministry said its appeal was prompted by reports that representatives of the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats were seeking such discussions. It also said Pavilionis had publicly stated that he was preparing a party document on cooperation between Lithuania and the United States based on information and assessments provided by diplomats.

The ministry asked the commission to assess whether Pavilionis, as a member of parliament and deputy chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, had properly separated this work from activities carried out in the interests of his political party.

Pavilionis rejected the ministry’s claims, saying he was preparing a report on America with colleagues from Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria and the Czech Republic on behalf of the European Christian Democrats, rather than the party.

He also said the ministry’s allegation showed that its current leadership did not understand or could not assess the role of parliamentary diplomacy.

The ministry’s appeal followed reports by the Delfi news portal that it had received complaints about the conduct of Lithuania’s ambassador to the United States, Gediminas Varvuolis. According to sources cited by the portal, some embassy employees reported disrespectful behaviour, raised voices and long working hours. They also spoke remotely with the ministry’s inspector general, while the ministry’s chancellor reportedly promised specific measures.

The Foreign Ministry initially did not launch an investigation and described the complaints as rumours. On Friday, however, it announced that a commission had been formed to investigate the situation.

Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, said there was currently no official information confirming allegedly improper conduct by the ambassador. He said ministry representatives had referred to isolated incidents largely related to working conditions, rather than specific complaints about the ambassador’s behaviour.