Parliamentary commission drops inquiry into conservative’s embassy talks

Lithuania’s parliamentary Ethics and Procedures Commission has decided not to investigate a complaint concerning conservative lawmaker Žygimantas Pavilionis’s conversations with staff at the Lithuanian embassy in Washington, LRT reported.

“Embassies and other institutions could probably be considered part of a member of parliament’s work. Parliamentary oversight can take various forms, and a member of parliament can conduct it himself,” commission chairman Viktoras Fiodorovas said before asking members to agree not to open an inquiry. No one objected.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had asked the commission to assess whether Pavilionis breached public and private interest requirements for lawmakers, and whether he properly used his parliamentary status and powers while speaking with embassy employees.

According to the ministry, Pavilionis may have used his status as a member of parliament and his personal connections to gather information for a political party document intended for public release. The ministry said he may also have asked diplomats to provide non-public official information and distributed it outside the procedure established by law.

The ministry filed the complaint after BNS reported that representatives of the opposition Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats, or TS-LKD, were organising informal conversations to discuss the work of Lithuania’s ambassador to the United States, Gediminas Varvuolis.

According to BNS, an invitation from Pavilionis, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, and former prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė to speak with TS-LKD members reached the entire embassy staff. Some embassy employees were involved in distributing the information.

Pavilionis confirmed to BNS that he had been speaking with embassy staff. He said they had, among other things, made comments about Varvuolis’s work. Šimonytė said she had not spoken directly with employees at Lithuania’s Washington mission for a long time.

Delfi previously reported that some embassy employees had contacted the Foreign Ministry to complain about the ambassador’s disrespectful behaviour, raised voice and long working hours. The ministry formed a commission last week to investigate the situation.

Varvuolis has served as Lithuania’s ambassador to the United States since August 1 last year.