Foreign Ministry union reports no complaints about ambassador’s conduct

The Foreign Ministry employees’ trade union has not received complaints from the staff of Lithuania’s embassy in the United States about alleged inappropriate conduct by Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis, LRT reported. However, the union has delegated one of its members to the commission investigating the matter.

“It is important to us that the commission, which also includes representatives of the Foreign Ministry’s General Inspection, Human Resources Management Department and Legal Department, meets the needs of all employees concerned, protects their rights and privacy, and ensures confidentiality and impartiality throughout the process,” union chair Sigita Kavaliūnaitė told ELTA.

She said the union would seek to ensure that employee complaints were examined transparently, in line with established procedures and applicable laws, without prejudging the outcome and while respecting the rights and legitimate interests of each employee.

The news portal Delfi previously reported that the Foreign Ministry had received complaints about Varvuolis’s conduct. According to sources cited by the portal, some embassy employees had reported disrespectful behaviour, raised voices and long working hours.

The ministry initially said no investigation into Varvuolis had been launched and described the complaints as rumours. On Friday, however, it announced that a commission had been formed to investigate the situation.

Remigijus Motuzas, chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, said on the ELTA Kampas programme that there was currently no official information confirming alleged inappropriate conduct by the ambassador toward employees. According to him, Foreign Ministry representatives had referred to “sporadic” incidents mostly related to working conditions, while there were reportedly no specific complaints about the ambassador’s conduct.

Kavaliūnaitė said the union regularly received comments and complaints from employees, but criticism of ambassadors’ working methods was isolated. She said the union had received only a few complaints mentioning inappropriate working methods by heads of diplomatic missions.

The union responds to complaints and employees’ needs in various ways, including by initiating consultations with Foreign Ministry management and participating in investigations launched by the ministry.