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“I do not mean to say that it is the responsibility of the minister, but perhaps those who have made such decisions consider political responsibility. The minister should assess the actions of his team and the circumstances of making this damaging decision,” S. Skvernelis said Tuesday before the Seimas session.
In the opinion of the head of government, the decision on hunting was made too fast, excessive and unnecessary.
“We have a clear public opinion that this hunting method is unacceptable.” Hunters also voice some of these arguments, because this method of hunting requires special preparation, and the probability of a mistake that could harm a beast is high enough, “said S. Skvernelis.
The Council is closely related to the environment of the Minister.
Environment Minister Kęstutis Mažeika’s order to legalize hunting in Lithuania in 2022 caused a real wave of outrage. The minister himself explained Monday that the Hunting Council had lost that idea to him. Delfi has released the full list of board members. It shows that the council itself is closely related to the environment of the minister and is chaired by a deputy minister and another ministry official.
Delfi has received the full list of members of the Hunting Management Advisory Board. The Council was approved by Minister K. Mažeika himself. He did this on July 3, 2019.
Council President K. Mažeika has appointed Deputy Minister Rasa Vaitkevičiūtė. Delfi has already written that she is a hunter, an active member of this community.
In 2019, Delfi wrote that the newly appointed Deputy Minister for the Environment, R. Vaitkevičiūtė, may have incorrectly stated his private interests, did not indicate his membership in the hunter organization. After Delfi’s publication, the Main Service Ethics Commission discovered that the Vice Minister had violated the law.
Delfi raised the question that R. Vaitkevičiūtė may belong to a hunters organization. The journalists then contacted the newly appointed Deputy Minister for the Environment, R. Vaitkevičiūtė, and asked if he belonged to a hunting club. “I do not belong to any hunting club,” the deputy minister said when asked by journalists in Delphi.
After the publication, the COEC launched an investigation and finally announced that it had made a decision that the Vice Minister had violated the law. It is true that the COEC also clarified new circumstances.
“R. Vaitkevičiūtė, a former employee of the Kaunas branch of the Department of Environmental Protection of the Ministry of the Environment, violated the requirements of the Law on Coordination of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service (Article 6 (1) (1) and (4 ), Article 7 (1)). This decision was made unanimously by the Central Official Ethics Commission (COEC). The survey data shows that, in 2015. After starting work in the civil service, R. Vaitkevičiūtė had to indicate in his declaration of private interests the current position of secondary professor at the then Aleksandras Stulginskis University (currently – Vytautas University Magnus, Academy of Agriculture). 2016 was forced to complement the statement with data that she had become the president of the association “Republican Association of Hunters and Fishermen” Medeina. “However, R. Vaitkevičiūtė declared these circumstances late and did not meet the deadlines established by the law ”, indicates the decision adopted by the COEC.
Who forms the council?
Another Ministry employee, Jolanta Urbelionytė, is the head of the Council.
The members of the council are the following people:
Linas Balčiauskas, researcher at the Center for Natural Research;
Tomas Barkauskas, Representative of the Lithuanian Green Alliance;
Gediminas Brazaitis, researcher at Vytautas Magnus University;
Egidijus Bukelskis, employee of the Lithuanian Association of Hunters and Fishermen;
Audrius Čiupala, Representative of the Police Department;
Vilmantas Graičiūnas, employee of the Ministry of the Environment;
Algirdas Klimavičius, employee of the Ministry of the Environment;
Ramūnas Mažyti, President of the Sūduva Hunters’ Union;
Rolandas Micevičius, member of the Council of the Lithuanian Association of Hunters and Fishermen;
Gytis Misiukevičius, representative of the Arms Dealer Association;
Kęstutis Motiekaitis, employee of the Department of Environmental Protection, subordinate to the Ministry of the Environment;
Lina Paškevičiūtė, Representative of the Environmental Coalition;
Vidmantas Paulauskas, Representative of the State Food and Veterinary Service;
Aidas Pivoriūnas, Director of the Association of Private Forests;
Raimondas Ribčiauskas, President of the Lithuanian Hunters Union “Gamta”;
Albertas Stanislovaitis, Director of the State Service of Protected Areas of the Ministry of the Environment;
Arūnas Šileika, Representative of the Ministry of Agriculture;
Algimantas Šindeikis, representative of the Lithuanian Association of Forest and Land Owners;
Jonas Talmantas, President of the Lithuanian Farmers Union;
Gediminas Vaitiekūnas, President of the Lithuanian Hunters Association;
Monika Venytė, representative of the Lithuanian Cynology Center;
Aleksas Žebrauskas, employee of the State Forest Company of the Ministry of the Environment.
Therefore, looking at the composition of the council, it can be seen that a significant number of employees are employees of the Ministry of the Environment and its subordinate institutions. Therefore, the influence of the ministry and specifically the minister on the council is enormous. Furthermore, since it is headed by a Vice Minister directly subordinate to the Minister.
There are also many members of the hunter community on the board. And a minority of naturalists, scientists, representatives of non-governmental organizations that can defend the interests of nature.
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