VSD limits checks in controversy over Laneckis appointment

Lithuania’s State Security Department says it assesses only some legally defined criteria when vetting Oleksandr Laneckis, a board member of Lithuanian Airports, LRT reported, citing ELTA. Other circumstances must be assessed by other institutions and by the candidate himself, the department said.

The former VSD director, Gediminas Grina, said politicians should make the political decision on whether a person is suitable for a position.

The VSD told ELTA that the procedure for vetting candidates on national security grounds is set out in the Law on the Protection of Objects of Importance to Ensuring National Security. The law specifies circumstances that prevent a person from being appointed to positions in companies important to national security.

“People appointed or nominated for these positions are checked, according to procedures set by the government, to determine whether they meet the criteria established by law,” the VSD said in a written response.

However, the department stressed that it does not assess every circumstance listed in the law. “The VSD checks compliance with a defined part of the circumstances and criteria established by law that are related to national security,” it said.

According to the department, responsibility for other circumstances lies with the candidates themselves or falls within the remit of the institutions organising competitions and conducting candidate selections.

VSD is not moral police

Grina said the VSD should not be regarded as an institution responsible for assessing a candidate’s overall reputation.

“The VSD is not moral police. Let politicians deal with morality,” the former department chief told ELTA.

He said the VSD’s main task was to identify information that was not public, rather than repeat information already available publicly. Grina stressed that a person’s business or employment ties with Russia do not by themselves mean that the person is acting in the interests of a hostile state.

He said the VSD must have specific facts before issuing a negative assessment. “The VSD cannot say ‘No’ until it has some facts showing that a person is working for a hostile state,” he said.

Grina linked the division of responsibilities to the earlier case involving Gintautas Paluckas, when President Gitanas Nausėda criticised institutions for failing to provide sufficient information about possible risks before Paluckas was appointed prime minister.

“When politicians do not want to take responsibility for their decisions, they immediately write letters to the VSD,” the former department head said.

He said the VSD could assess national security threats, but deciding whether a publicly known person was generally suitable for a particular position was the politicians’ responsibility.

Questions raised before

Questions about how state institutions assess candidates have also been raised in Lithuania in the past. One prominent example was the Paluckas case, when Nausėda criticised the sufficiency of information provided by the institutions and said he had not been properly informed about potential risks connected with the then prime ministerial candidate.

“The services had provided information. It turned out to be insufficient. And, unfortunately, this is not the first case. I definitely intend to discuss this with the services. Information about traffic violations or other things that cannot later be proved is not enough for me. I need substantiated, appropriate information,” the president told journalists in July 2025.

“We allocate substantial funds to maintain the services and see that, in some cases, journalistic investigations reveal much more than the services are required to do in their duties. For goodness’ sake, they need to start doing their job,” Nausėda added at the time.

Law sets out specific circumstances

Article 17 of the Law on the Protection of Objects of Importance to Ensuring National Security establishes the requirements for people seeking or holding positions in companies important to national security.

Under the law, a person cannot be appointed to such a position if, among other circumstances, they cooperate or have cooperated with the interests of states hostile to Lithuania, or maintain or have maintained ties with a foreign state’s intelligence or security service or with people connected to such services. Possible links with terrorist organisations are also assessed.