Lithuanian Prime Minister GintAutas Paluckas resigned on Thursday after protests in the capital of the country during research into his alleged business transactions.
“GintAutas Paluckas called me this morning and informed me of his resignation,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters, according to Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT). Nausėda also said that Paluckas made the right choice and welcomed the decision.
Nausėda recently gave Paluckas two weeks to decide whether or not he would stay in his position.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on July 24, 2025, gave Prime Minister GintAutas Paluckas two weeks to decide whether he would resign. (Ints Kalnins/Mike Segar/Reuters)
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“The president asked the prime minister either either to give a reasonable answer to the questions that the public have asked in the coming two weeks, or to seriously regard his further options as Prime Minister,” Presidential adviser Frederikas Jansonas told reporters on 24 July, according to LRT.
The premier’s resignation also comes after a smaller party threatened to leave the ruling coalition of the country, unless Paluckas resigned from his position.
After media sales points started publishing investigations into the business and financial transactions of Paluckas, the anti-corruption and law enforcement agencies of Lithuania, according to their own probes The corresponding press. One of the things against him is more than ten years old.
Newly elected Lithuania, Prime Minister GintAutas Paluckas, speaks to the media in parliament in Vilnius, Lithuania, November 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)
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In 2012, Paluckas was convicted of misunderstanding the bidding process for rat exhaling in Vilnius, where he served as director of the city administration of the city, the Associated Press reported. However, it has been revealed that he did not pay part of the nearly $ 20,000 fine.
A more recent scandal was a subsidized loan of € 200,000 ($ 228,777) that Garnis, a company Paluckas co-founder, received after Paluckas was already prime minister, according to LRT. The outlet added that the Chief Official Ethics Commission van Lithuania is investigating the loan.
Garnis was also linked to a more recent scandal in which the prime minister was involved in which Dankora-the company received from Paluckas’ sister-in-law-EU financing and used to buy Garnis goods. According to LRT, however, Public Protest has pushed Dankora to return the money.
Lithuanian new Prime Minister GintAutas Paluckas attends a session on December 12, 2024 of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, in Vilnius. (Petras Malukas/AFP via Getty images)
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Paluckas denies every misconduct and claims that the criticism is part of a “coordinated attack” by his political opponents, according to the Associated Press.
The dismissal of the prime minister places Lithuania in a precarious position, as it comes just before Russia and Wit -Russia have joint military exercises. The entire Paluckas cabinet is also expected to resign, possibly leaving the Baltic country without a functioning government, just a few weeks prior to the Russian-Balarusian exercises, according to the Associated Press. However, this cannot affect Lithuania’s foreign policy, because Nausėda, who represents the country on a global scale, has been an avid supporter of Ukraine during his years of war with Russia.
