Former Heads of Diplomacy: On Nausėda’s Decision on Karoblis and Linkevičius: Assess the Situation Differently

Vaitiekūnas calls for the “cooling period” to be shortened as much as possible

Petras Vaitiekūnas, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2006-2008 Delphi He argued that the above situation makes us talk about the loss of human resources.

“Knowledge is power, information is power and Lithuania is important with its knowledge. Ministers have for some time kept the relevant, meaningful and burning information they collect during their service. It would be a mistake to allow the foreign policy resources of Lithuania – this is relevant information – disappear and become irrelevant, in a figurative sense, to “plunge into the sand,” said the country’s former head of diplomacy.

P. Vaitiekūnas, like now L. Linkevičius and R. Karoblis, served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania for one year.

According to him, it was not a good decision.

“I myself” marinated “for a year after serving in the post of Minister, and it was my fault, no (Vygaudas – aut. I have seen from my own experience how my contacts disappear, how people change rapidly in foreign positions and how that administered information quickly becomes irrelevant, ”said P. Vaitiekūnas about his experience.

When it became clear that L. Linkevičius and R. Karoblis would not be appointed ambassadors, some specialists said that in order for the head of state to use his argument, it was necessary to clearly define the process of ministerial return to ambassadors.

In the opinion of P. Vaitiekūnas, it is not worth creating additional legal regulation on this issue, but at the same time, the former minister would advise to resolve the situation as soon as possible.

“Lithuania was lucky with Ambassador Sigismund Pavilionis (USA, 2010-2015 – aut.p.), I think that with Minister Linkevičius, Lithuania would be no less fortunate. They are both such penetrating and non-confrontational personalities in diplomatic work. I would simply urge the president, foreign minister, and prime minister to sit down for a cup of tea through Zoom, and urge that the ‘cool-down period’ be shortened as much as possible, “said P Vaitiekūnas.

Azubalis sees the situation differently: the law was not violated

In turn, in 2010-2012. Audronius Ažubalis, the current MP who served as Foreign Minister, assessed the situation differently.

According to A. Ažubalis, L. Linkevičius and R. Karoblis have returned to the diplomatic service and, although not at the highest level, according to him, they will be able to make effective use of their acquired knowledge and experience.

“I think it is correct that the ministers who worked in the Skvernel political government and the peasants come back and work in the ministry after the change of government,” said the former chancellor in Delphi.

According to A. Ažubalis, the right to prevent L. Linkevičius and R. Karoblis from returning to the post of ambassadors was not violated.

“It just came to our knowledge then. In this case, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs strictly complied with the requirements of the legislation: these two people were readmitted to the diplomatic service. When a person leaves politics, they end their relations with the service. diplomat, he becomes a person of political trust and then has the right to return for 5 years; then the Ministry considers the Certification Commission and, if the answer is yes, he returns to the diplomatic service. That was done, “said A. Ažubalis .

He also noted that the former ministers are on an equal footing with other diplomats with ambassadorial rank awaiting appointment.

“There are many diplomats in the ministry who have the rank of ambassadors and who are waiting their turn to rotate. I think they are no better in this case. Perhaps they are superior to their political work experience in government, in which case they are in a good position to advise the minister, the vice ministers, the prime minister, the president’s team on one task or another, rather than being in a country. . . Here I see a completely rational solution “, emphasized A. Ažubalis.

When asked how he assessed the opinion of some experts that after such a practice, some specialists in various fields might not want to go back to work as ministers, A. Ažubalis said that the post of minister is a political position.

“The position of minister is not the position of a specialist, it is a political position. If you go, you become a politician, then you assume all the responsibilities of a politician and all the risks that work as a politician entails. I believe that all former ministers we are the same in this sense, ”said A. Azubalis.

The former head of diplomacy also noted that he does not see the need to address this issue through amendments to the law, but noted that the new Chancellor Gabrielius Landsbergis is preparing a revision of the Law of Diplomatic Service, so it will be possible to discuss it later in the Seimas.

“In this case, I don’t see anything exceptional that has caused something to happen or can happen in the state, certainly not,” said A. Azubalis.

Former ministers criticize the long period of non-designation of ambassadors

Abu Delphi Former foreign ministers criticized the long period in which Lithuania did not have ambassadors in the US and Brussels; these latter posts have not been filled for about half a year, although decisions on the removal of former ambassadors have been made even earlier.

According to P. Vaitiekūnas, this symbolizes “an immature state and an immature politics”.

“It just came to our notice then. We have such a situation, such politicians, such a sense of responsibility. I think Linkevičius should also take responsibility that we do not have an ambassador to the United States, but despite nothing, we need to fill those positions as as soon as possible with the most competent, professional and knowledgeable people, ”said P.Vaitiekūnas.

For his part, A. Ažubalis also criticized L. Linkevičius because ambassadors had not been appointed before in such important embassies.

“It seems to me a rather unconventional situation, because for how many years I have worked in foreign policy, I lost the experience that on December 19, 2019, when the committee agreed to withdraw five ambassadors from the key section of embassies.” But, as we can see, no one has been appointed after this day. The embassy does not have hotels or reserved rooms, “said the former foreign minister.

According to him, this suggests that such duties could have been specifically considered vacant.

“If you see that this is Peter, John’s term ends in half a year, you start to think seriously and see if you look at him responsibly. Or maybe reserve that place for someone? ”A. Ažubalis asked rhetorically.

E. Misiūnas also closed the door to its former position.

L. Linkevičius was considered one of the most realistic candidates for the post of Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States, and R. Karoblis, for the post of Lithuanian Ambassador to the EU. The portal was the first to announce the refusal of President G. Nausėda to appoint former ministers as ambassadors lrytas.lt.

President Nausėda, for his part, publicly explained that he does not see any possibility that these former ministers will return to the post of ambassador due to the “necessary political cooling off. The presidency also did not hide the idea of ​​enshrining “political cooling” in law.

Former Interior Minister Eimutis Misiūnas, who wanted to return to work as a judge, also received negative conclusions from the presidency regarding his subsequent career.

“More than a month and a half after the day I submitted the application to restore my status as a former judge, I received a message from the Legal Group of the Presidency of the Republic of Lithuania that I will not be appointed to the post of a former judge. It is argued that I was involved in politics and did not comply with the principle of “political neutrality”, the former minister wrote on Facebook.

E. Misiūnas emphasized that he had never participated in any party activity, but had participated in the elections as an independent person.

Soon after, he confirmed to the BNS news agency that he was considering going to court and defending his right to resume previous jobs.

Reviewers saw such decisions and arguments by the head of state as a new genre of political coping, and politicians noted that following such practices could make it difficult to attract good professionals to positions of state responsibility.