Minister hopes to nominate Škarnulis to lead border guard service

Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas hopes to put forward Donatas Škarnulis to lead Lithuania’s State Border Guard Service this month, LRT reported.

The ministry is awaiting formal conclusions, which Katelynas said he believed had arrived on Wednesday. Once they are coordinated, the government can adopt a resolution, he said.

“I very much hope it will happen this month,” Katelynas told reporters at the government. He said the timing also depended on bureaucratic procedures and the scheduling of government meetings.

Katelynas announced last week that he had chosen Škarnulis, who is currently serving as the service’s acting head. The minister said he selected the colonel because of his extensive experience in the internal affairs system.

Škarnulis began his career in 2000 as a border protection specialist at the Border Police Department. After working at the State Security Department from 2002 to 2005, he held several positions in the State Border Guard Service, including head of its operational activities division from 2006. He later led units responsible for overseeing criminal proceedings and criminal investigations. He was appointed deputy head of the service in January 2025 and received the rank of colonel in 2024.

Škarnulis is being considered after former service chief Rustamas Liubajevas decided to step down on August 17. Liubajevas had led the service since 2019 and was appointed to a second term in 2024. The decision followed reports of an incident near the Belarusian border in Lazdijai District involving border guards and migrants who had emerged from a tunnel. Katelynas said at the time that, if the reports were confirmed, he would see no possibility for Liubajevas to remain in the post.