About 20 people protest outside presidential office against interior minister candidate Katelynas

Around 20 people gathered in Simonas Daukantas Square on Monday to protest the candidacy of Martynas Katelynas, nominated by the Social Democrats for the position of interior minister, reports BNS.

Vytautas Mitalas, leader of the Freedom Party, told journalists during the protest that the nomination “once again shows that the president no longer applies any principles at all to ministerial candidates.”

“From the outside, it looks like a person who compared Lithuanian officials to Belarusian Omon officers—and who may now be responsible for their welfare and Lithuania’s security—should be kept at least a cannon’s shot away from the interior minister’s post,” Mitalas said.

The protest follows a 2021 incident at the Rūdininkai training ground, where a group of people blocked access to the site during preparations to house irregular migrants. After repeated refusals to follow officials’ orders, the protesters were forcibly removed. Later, individuals broke into the territory, burned tires, lightly injured two officials, and again blocked access, prompting the use of tear gas.

After the incident, then-Varėna District Municipal Council member Katelynas posted on Facebook, asking how the actions of Lithuanian services differed from those of Belarus’s Omon.

Deividas Matulionis, an advisor to the president, confirmed to journalists on Tuesday that Katelynas’ 2021 statements were discussed during his meeting with the president. Matulionis said the remarks should be assessed in the broader context of the migration crisis and societal tension at the time. He added that Katelynas’ candidacy aligns with President Gitanas Nausėda’s views on migration policy and is a strong prospect for leading the Interior Ministry.

Mitalas dismissed the explanations, stating that Katelynas lacks the necessary experience for the role. “This is, in Lithuanian terms, an evasion of one situation, and it does not convince me at all. We are talking about a ministerial post in a ministry that is currently one of the most important in Lithuania,” he said.

Vilhelmas Lingaitis, a representative of the Liberal Youth of Lithuania, called on the Social Democrats to explain to their young voters why Katelynas—who has allegedly denigrated the LGBT community—is the best choice for interior minister. “If you ask a young person who votes for the Social Democrats and is a member of the youth wing, they would probably not agree with such a candidate,” Lingaitis said.