Olekas says Šakalienė can attend security committee meetings

Lithuanian parliament speaker Juozas Olekas believes Social Democrat Dovilė Šakalienė will be able to attend meetings of parliament’s National Security and Defence Committee and receive the information she wants, LRT reported.

Olekas said on Tuesday that he had discussed the matter with Šakalienė and committee chair Rimantas Sinkevičius. He said he believed the issues she had raised would be resolved, allowing her to attend meetings and access information.

In an interview published by news portal Lrytas, Šakalienė said that although she is a substitute member of the committee, Sinkevičius had told her she should not attend its meetings. She said this was why she was not taking part in its work.

Šakalienė has served on parliament’s Law and Law Enforcement Committee since October last year. The Social Democrats had previously blocked the former defence minister from returning to the security committee, saying a cooling-off period was needed. At the time, Social Democratic parliamentary group leader Orinta Leiputė said she saw no basis for discussing Šakalienė’s return.

Šakalienė was dismissed as defence minister in late October 2025 after a dispute with then-prime minister Inga Ruginienė over defence funding. Social Democrat Robertas Kaunas took over the Defence Ministry.