After the ERC meeting, opinions on the representation of the EV diverged: Paluck does not rule out the crisis, Tomilin sees a threat to democracy

At a meeting of the European Affairs Committee (ECC) on Wednesday, it was decided that the committee would not only approve Lithuania’s positions before each EVS meeting, but would also make recommendations on who should lead the Lithuanian delegation. In other words, the committee’s decision seems to say that the ERC, in deciding on delegations representing Lithuania in the future, may show a formal wish that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė can join state representation on certain issues in the EVS in the long term. As President Gitan Nauseda, who currently represents EVS, does not want to talk about any changes, this issue has been one of the hotbeds of tension in recent months.

“I think it would be an advantage for the Lithuanian state to have a broader representation of Lithuania in the EVS, that is, in those issues that are more related to the issues under the responsibility of the president – to be representative, but some things related to the issues of national politics could do it is the head or the head of the Government ”, – the chairman of the committee Radvilė Morkūnaitė-Mikulėnien on commented on the decision taken by the ERC this week.

Some ERC members see an opportunity for a crisis

However, there are other opinions in the committee. Gintautas Paluckas, a member of the Lithuanian opposition Social Democratic Party, says positions in the ERC differ on this issue. Furthermore, he said, if the committee actually takes a formal recommendation to the Prime Minister to go to EVS, as the rulers allege, there is the possibility of a political crisis.

“If the practice is applied that ERC will assume such a political burden on what to send and what not to send, there will be an acute political conflict and we certainly will not resolve it without the intervention and clarification of the Constitutional Court,” he added. Paluck told Eltai.

Politicians in general have viewed the conservatives’ initiative to seize the president’s monopoly of representation with caution. He was not particularly impressed by the certificate from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented to the ERC, which became a pretext for the committee to adjust its functions in Lithuania’s preparations for EVS.

“When you have a goal, you choose the means, you find a certain interpretation of the different legislative texts that you are preparing. The same political force is preparing certificates that would allow them to gain more power, ”said a member of Seimas.

Last week, at the request of ERC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a certificate that, according to conservatives, states that all instruments are already in the hands of the rulers to prevent President Gitan Nausėda from representing Lithuania in the European Council.

Undermining the role of the president is a threat to democracy

At the time, Tomas Tomilinas, a member of the Lithuanian Peasants and Greens Union, responded whether the new mandate could already be applied at the EVS session in April, saying that he saw no basis and no real need for the expected changes. According to him, everything should continue as usual.

“It just came to our attention then. I think the usual procedure should continue,” the Seimas member opened.

Politicians said they saw the ruling initiative as an effort to strengthen their dominance while undermining the role of the president. This, the “peasant” asserted, constitutes a threat to democracy.

“When the government is concentrated in one hand, in this case in the hands of a single political force, it is really a very threatening trend and it must resist in every way to defend democracy,” said the member of Seimas.

According to T. Tomilinas, the fact that there is no reason to change the current representation procedure is also demonstrated by another important fact: there have never been complaints about the quality of G. Nausėda’s work in the European Council.

“There is no reproach, there have been no questions either in the ERC, in the context of the Seimas in general, or in the context of the parliamentary supervision of the Seimas, where there is some discontent with the head of state, the representation of his team, something incorrect or inappropriate at the level that represents Lithuania ”, argue the politicians.

In recent months, the question posed by the more conservative that the current practice should be abandoned, when Lithuania is represented in the EVS only by the head of the country, has caused considerable friction with G. Nausėda. Representatives of the governing authorities have repeatedly expressed the view that it would be much more effective if Lithuania’s positions in the EVS were represented by the Head of Government.

Prime Minister I. Šimonytė has said that, depending on the content of the meetings, the Head of Government and the President of Lithuania could alternately represent EVS. However, G. Nausėda has repeatedly stated that he does not see the need to change current practice. According to the President, it is intolerable and unacceptable to ask whether it should continue to represent Lithuania in EVS, when at that time the Government has many outstanding issues regarding the crisis caused by COVID-19.