Environmental groups urge president not to appoint Mažeika as agriculture minister

Environmental organisations have called on Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda not to appoint Kęstutis Mažeika, a member of parliament from the Democratic Union “For Lithuania”, as agriculture minister, LRT reports.

The appeal, signed by the Baltic Environmental Forum, Dainava Nature Fund, the Nature Protection Association “Baltic Wolf”, the Environmental Policy Centre, the public body “For a Clean Lithuania”, the charity “Save the Baltic”, the Lithuanian Entomological Society, nature photographer and author Marius Čepulis, and musician Giedrius Širka, stresses the importance of the Ministry of Agriculture in ensuring food security, agricultural competitiveness, rural development, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, water quality, Baltic Sea protection, and the implementation of Lithuania’s international commitments.

“Therefore, this ministry must be led by someone capable of balancing economic, social, and environmental interests and making decisions guided by the public interest,” the organisations stated.

The groups expressed doubts about Mažeika’s suitability, citing his past political actions and public statements. They noted that during his tenure as environment minister, he supported or initiated decisions that faced significant criticism from scientists, protected area specialists, environmental organisations, and the public. These included attempts to create exemptions for fishing in the strictly protected Žuvintas Nature Reserve, halting the expansion of the Punia Forest Nature Reserve—despite its aim to strengthen protection for one of Lithuania’s most valuable old-growth forests—and supporting the legalisation of bow hunting, which was opposed by scientists, veterinary specialists, and animal welfare organisations.

“Assessing these decisions as a whole reveals a political direction in which nature conservation interests were given less weight than the expansion of natural resource use,” the appeal reads.

The organisations also highlighted Mažeika’s comments during a Seimas Rural Affairs Committee meeting earlier this year, where he argued that a significant portion of Strategic Plan funds allocated to environmental measures were not investments in agricultural production. The groups countered that ecological farming, ecosystem protection, agri-environmental measures, soil conservation, and support for areas with natural constraints are integral to the Common Agricultural Policy. These measures, they argued, serve not only environmental goals but also long-term agricultural competitiveness, soil fertility preservation, water quality improvement, and climate change impact reduction.

Additionally, the organisations raised concerns about Mažeika’s publicly stated priorities, particularly his repeated emphasis on grain sector development, while acknowledging in public statements that Lithuania already produces far more grain than it consumes.