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“Carril. I think this is already a phase in which it is difficult to talk about political culture, but basically the question is open. In my opinion, there is only one solution: discussion and a certain division of labor. That is obvious. Ultimately, this is due to the nature of the issues under discussion, ”said Raimundas Lopata, a former political scientist who turned to politics and a member of the Liberal Movement faction in the Seimas.
In his view, the questions raised about representation in the EVS are reasonable and rational.
“In my opinion, the solution is just a search for mutual respect and compromise,” Lopata said.
According to the politician, the problem is that “for some of the Presidency, the simple act of asking questions seems to be a restriction of certain powers for the head of state.”
Listen, the Constitution does not stipulate that the president preside over the sessions of the Government. Like the Government, it cannot guide the President in matters within its competence. In this case, there are natural considerations about EVS, which refer to internal matters for which governments are responsible, ”said Lopata.
The politician sees that no agreement has been reached so far, and he simply thinks that it is not about constitutional issues but about power games.
“It seems to me that the confusion between these two types of issues does not allow us to accept a compromise that, in principle, would be in line with the logic of our constitutional structure,” said Lopata.
In his opinion, the most appropriate form in civilized politics would be to sit down at a table and speak.
“It is no longer rational to fight from a television screen or Facebook pages,” Lopata said.
Lopata: Grybauskaitė slightly overestimated his abilities.
Politicians considered that at the country level, the most important thing is to make the most of potential or opportunities.
“We have seen that President Grybauskaitė has slightly overestimated his foreign policy skills. One of the reasons was the decision to be the only one to participate in EVS,” Lopata said.
In his opinion, one of the most striking examples is the question of Ukraine.
“It just came to our knowledge then. The situation when, in 2013, at the end of our presidency, the entire European summit met. At that time, the question of Ukraine was being resolved and we were unable to convey what were the actual processes in Ukraine. and what was the role of Russia, I think this is an overestimation of my foreign policy skills.
More such questions can be found. But this is the past. I don’t want the power struggle to once again reveal a lack of capacity in one area or another. Cooperation between institutions would avoid such things, ”said R. Lopata.
Kirkilas: I think this is bad for Lithuania
The chairman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Labor Party, former Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, has a poor assessment of the current situation between the Seimas and the Presidency.
“I think it is also very bad for Lithuania. Normally, the leaders should agree on those things after each new election. But, as I see, there is no negotiation, there is quite a strong opposition right away, now neither side wants to surrender. And there are really questions here, “Kirkilas said.
He himself said that now he did not know if, “let’s say in this informal EVS on the social pillar, which is very important, if the president will take the position that the government prepares.”
“What Ms Skaisgirytė says is not entirely true either. Although in this EVS on the social pillar, Merkel is not involved, but the Minister of Social Security is. Member States can decide what they send each time. This is not a problem. And the fact that an invitation is sent is just a courtesy gesture, “said G. Kirkilas.
He recalled the situation in Poland
For the former politician, the current situation seems like a completely unnecessary war that does not remind him of 2007-2008. The situation in Poland.
“At that time, both presidents and prime ministers could still participate in the EVS. I participated with Valdas Adamkus. We talked about the relevant topics: the president on foreign policy, security, I stayed with everyone else.
At that time, there were seven or eight semi-presidential states: Lithuania, Poland, Finland, Romania, Cyprus, and the like. After a conflict broke out between President Kaczynski and Prime Minister-elect Tusk within the EVS itself, the EVS decided that it did not have to interpret the internal affairs of member states. Therefore, as of 2008, it was decided that it was up to the member states to decide who represented them in the EVS, ”said Kirkilas.
Now, he said, the absolute majority of EVS are Heads of Government. This is logical.
“In France, for example, the president is the de facto head of government, and some others. Poland, which is closest to us in terms of Constitution and location, is represented by the Prime Minister. Returning to our situation, the I value very much. First of all, the president and the prime minister have to find out, agree and make a decision themselves, “said G. Kirkilas.
The politician recalled how the situation arose that in previous mandates (after only one of the heads of state could go to the EVS), the country was represented in such a format by Mr. Grybauskaitė.
“President D. Grybauskaitė was supported by the conservatives at that time, they agreed. (…) When other governments arrived, A. Butkevičius also decided to leave this post, followed by S. Skvernelis. Now that the election has taken place, as president, I would have discussed this first. I don’t know if they tried to negotiate. It seems to me that there are not many meetings between the president and the prime minister, “said G. Kirkilas.
The bathtub reminded me of history
Conservative MEP Former Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius recalled the story of how things turned out after there was no chance for both the prime minister and the president to go to EVS.
“I don’t have much to say here, a new order has arrived. Until then, we drove together with President Adamkus. There was enough room both at the negotiating table and at dinner for both of us.
Later, coinciding with the election of D. Grybauskaitė, a new order began, which comes under new contracts, that only one goes to the meeting. First of all, while we were going through a difficult period of the global financial crisis, it seemed to me that it would be more beneficial for Lithuania to travel by bicycle: A. Kubilius.
At the same time, the politician recalled that there were meetings after that where he mounted.
“I don’t remember the order, as President G. Nausėda announced now, that if you go, you go to all the meetings. Somehow I didn’t stick with that because I had to assemble at least some electric vehicles. We agreed on that. in good faith, “said A. Kubilius.
He offers Nausėda personal ambitions to help the country.
The politician emphasized that the most important factor in solving these problems is what is most beneficial for Lithuania.
“It doesn’t matter if the president really wants to ride now or the prime minister wants to ride, those personal wishes shouldn’t matter. The crucial question is what would be most beneficial for Lithuania. When I see what issues are being debated now, and knowing the experience of both I. Šimonytė and G. Nausėda, I think it would be more beneficial for Lithuania to behave as the absolute majority of other EU countries behave when delegating prime ministers. to EVS. Because there are problems related to vaccines and the social prospects for the future, ”said A. Kubilius.
In his opinion, in this case, the head of state should help the country with his personal ambitions.
“It would be nice if the president could put aside his personal ambitions a bit and calmly consider what is most beneficial for Lithuania.” And they would try to answer the question of why other states are represented by an absolute majority of prime ministers and not presidents, ”said A. Kubilius.
The politician does not rule out that it may be necessary to seek legal ways to solve the problem.
“If you don’t decide here, it will probably be necessary to look for some legal solutions, write a law, clearly define who represents you and consider it. Because here there is no question of honor or personal disgrace. (…) Here is one of the problems of state governance: who would be better representing Lithuania ”, said A. Kubilius.
The politician hinted that the president himself could take the initiative and ask the Constitutional Court for clarification on this situation.
“The question is very simple: does the president, who believes that he can decide alone, still does not give explanations or does he not believe that sometimes his decisions do not comply with the legislation in force in Lithuania? Because there are no legal acts that say that only the president can represent Lithuania in EVS.
On the contrary, there are legal acts and a constitutional act on Lithuania’s membership in the EU, which lists how Lithuanian positions are prepared and addresses all issues related to those positions, including representation. The president is not even mentioned there. We are talking about the Government, the Seimas committees, but the act says nothing about the President. The President even has the right to go to the Constitutional Court himself and ask this question: isn’t it a kind of legal vacuum that is not filled and therefore there are many misunderstandings? “Said A. Kubilius.
You can read more about the prehistory of the conflict here.
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