I. Šimonytė promises to present the candidate for Minister of National Defense to the President on Tuesday

“Regarding the candidates, we discussed a couple of candidates with the president today, and I will present a specific candidate tomorrow,” the prime minister said in an interview with Info TV’s “Info komentarai su Arnu Mazētis” program on Monday.

However, she did not specify whether it would be the chairman of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Seimas, Laurynas Kasčiūnas.

“We discussed several candidates, I would not like to name him for ethical reasons”, said I. Šimonytė.

On Friday, the Head of the Government suggested that the Minister of National Defense A. Anušauskas should resign. According to her, he is withdrawing because of expectations to do “even more and faster” for the sake of Lithuania’s security during the remaining period of his term, while “maximum involvement” is currently expected from the Minister of National Defense.

A. Anušauskas himself stated on Saturday following the meeting with the president that the prime minister offered him to exchange duties with the chairman of one Seimas committee.

G. Nausėda, who met with A. Anušauskas over the weekend, confirmed that L. Kasčiūnas is only one of the candidates for Minister of National Defense, and asserted that when deciding on the candidacy of a new minister, it will be important for him to ensure the continuity of smooth work in the national defense system

L. Kasčiūnas said that he would be ready to assume a new position, and his main task in the position would be to implement the principle of universal defense.