Olekas leaves door open to larger pay rises for statutory officers

Lithuanian parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas has not ruled out a bigger-than-planned pay rise for statutory officers in 2027, saying savings could come from sharing some resources between the military and internal services, LRT reported.

Olekas said on Tuesday that the services could share resources such as transport and air surveillance capabilities, reducing separate costs and freeing funds for officers’ pay. He said the money would not come from the defence budget, but that some equipment used by both the military and other services could be shared.

Olekas did not specify a possible increase, saying an agreement was needed first. Interior Minister Martynas Katelynas also said on Tuesday that he would seek a larger rise than the 7.5% currently planned. He said pay could increase by 8% to 9% using internal resources.

The National Association of Officers’ Trade Unions says the 2027 budget proposal allocates about 35 million euros for statutory officers’ pay rises, while the additional funding needed by statutory institutions is nearly 86.4 million euros. The association is demanding a starting take-home salary of at least 1,500 euros and has warned it could hold a protest outside the government building if the situation does not change.

After the government approved the 2027 budget proposal, Katelynas said officers’ salaries were expected to rise by an average of about 7.5%, or roughly 128 euros a month after tax. He said the current funding did not meet all the services’ needs and that the government would look for additional funds.