Nausėda says she will participate in the EVS “in its entirety”, veto the law that legitimizes the representation

“In fact, I intend to exercise this right in its entirety, because it is my commitment to the people: the President of the Republic of Lithuania is a directly elected leader, voted by almost 900,000 Lithuanians in the last elections, which is probably statistically several times more than those who voted for the party that received the most votes, “G. Nausėda told LRT television in an interview on Friday.

The EVS meetings are attended by heads of state, but there is no legal regulation on whether the country should be represented in this format by the president or the head of government. In recent weeks, ruling conservatives have floated the idea of ​​changing the established tradition of having a president instead of a prime minister at EU summits and vowing to seek to regulate representation by law.

G. Nausėda assures that this could be in conflict with the Constitution, so he would not sign such a law.

“The President of the Republic of Lithuania does not have the right to sign a law that is in conflict with the Constitution. If such a law contradicts the Constitution, of course I will veto it,” he said.

The head of state also ensures that this issue, which has not been raised for more than a decade, should not be the most relevant in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, the limitations of quarantine and economic challenges. In your opinion, this may be intended to divert attention from other issues.

“We raised this issue, we want it to be central.” My question is simple: don’t we want to distract ourselves from issues that are important to the people and engage in such political power games, “he said?

The President says he is willing to continue coordinating the country’s positions in EVS meetings with the Government, as is currently the case.

“In that sense, we should talk about whether we can really work in a coordinated way, hand in hand. And I am ready to cooperate, implement the mandate given to me by the Republic of Lithuania, coordinate positions and defend them firmly in Brussels, ”said G. Nausėda.

Some ruling conservatives, who are raising the idea of ​​the president being replaced by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė at EU summits, argue that the European Council is dominated by issues that fall within the government’s purview during the pandemic.

Prime Minister I. Šimonytė stated that her participation in the EVS on some issues would be more practical, but that she herself did not require a change of procedure.

For his part, G. Nausėda emphasized to the LRT television that according to the Constitution, the head of the country represents the country in foreign bodies and states “regardless of the issues considered – net foreign policy or domestic policy.”

According to him, the president is also responsible for part of the internal politics of the country, because, for example, he appoints several officials, the government approves.

After Lithuania’s accession to the EU, both the president and the prime minister attended the summits for some time, but during the presidency of President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the tradition of the president attending the European Council was established.