Budrys accuses conservatives of harming Lithuania’s ties with US

Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has accused opposition conservatives of damaging Lithuania’s relationship with the United States by seeking informal talks with staff at Lithuania’s embassy in Washington, LRT reported.

Budrys was responding to a BNS report that representatives of the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats were trying to organise discussions about the work of Ambassador Gediminas Varvuolis.

“This is yet another attempt by the conservatives to create division and political intrigue, this time with harmful consequences for our foreign policy,” Budrys said in a comment issued by the Foreign Ministry. “Their desire to discredit and harm our relations with the United States by any means is shameful and has no limits.”

He added that it was “completely unacceptable” to use embassy employees as tools for political intrigues, disrupting the work of the embassy and the ministry.

Žygimantas Pavilionis, deputy chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats, said the minister’s reaction was disproportionate. He said Budrys himself was personally responsible for the situation.

“Relations with the United States are damaged when the embassy is not functioning and people are divided,” Pavilionis wrote on social media. He said the minister should have responded to problems at the embassy that had emerged since the new ambassador arrived a year ago, initiated an objective investigation and taken steps to improve relations.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius urged politicians not to interfere in the work of Lithuania’s embassy in the United States or escalate the situation.

“It is important for us to maintain a strategic partnership with the United States. Internal upheavals and conflicts do not honour us as a state or improve our relations,” Sinkevičius told reporters. He said existing situations should not be ignored and should be investigated, but politicians should not contribute to their escalation.

BNS reported that an invitation from Pavilionis and former Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė to hold talks with members of the opposition party reached the entire embassy staff. The report said individual employees were used to distribute the information.

Varvuolis told BNS he was unaware of such invitations, while the Foreign Ministry confirmed it had information about conservative lawmakers’ attempts to hold informal discussions with embassy staff. Pavilionis confirmed that he had communicated with embassy employees and that some had spoken about Varvuolis’s work.

Šimonytė denied information about possible talks, saying she had not communicated directly with embassy staff for a considerable time. Sinkevičius said complaints should be handled by the Foreign Ministry’s special inspector, adding that he understood no written complaints had been submitted.