Škarnulis to temporarily lead Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service

Donatas Škarnulis will temporarily lead Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service (VSAT) after the government approved Rustamas Liubajevas’s dismissal, LRT reported.

Škarnulis, a colonel, has served as VSAT deputy chief since January 2025. Before that, he headed the service’s Criminal Investigations Board. He was promoted to colonel in early 2024.

He previously served as deputy head and later head of VSAT’s Criminal Proceedings Control Organisation Board. Before that, he worked in the First Division of the service’s Operational Activities Board, becoming its head in 2006.

Škarnulis worked at the State Security Department from 2002 to 2005. He began his career in the interior affairs system in 2000 as a specialist in the Border Guard Service at the headquarters of the Border Police Department.

The other current VSAT deputy chiefs are colonels Saulius Nekraševičius and Antanas Montvydas.

Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas announced Liubajevas’s decision to leave the post at a press conference on Monday. Some opposition politicians suggested that the decision may have followed significant pressure from the interior minister.

Liubajevas wrote on VSAT’s Facebook account that he had decided to step down in response to doubts expressed publicly about the service and because he felt responsible “both for the institution’s successes and its failures”.

Liubajevas was first appointed VSAT chief with the rank of general in 2019 and was appointed to a second term in 2024. He received a named firearm in 2005, the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Cross of Vytis in 2022 and the Order of Viesturs, First Class, in 2023.

On Wednesday, army commander Raimundas Vaikšnoras said he had presented Liubajevas with an award for his contribution to strengthening Lithuania’s security.

The decision followed media reports of a confrontation between border guards and migrants who had emerged from a tunnel. According to the reports, one Lithuanian officer was scratched and another officer was allegedly pulled towards the Belarusian side before managing to break free.

The Lrytas news portal reported the information on Friday, citing sources. Katelynas said that if the reports were confirmed, he would no longer see a possibility for Liubajevas to continue serving as VSAT chief.