This institution found that President Nausėda and Bajarūnas violated the Law on Public and Private Interests when they attended the musical The Phantom of the Opera.
„If I tried to turn the pages of the hottest moments, the page where I would look for the foundations for these decisions is probably the one that is most closely related to the opera and the Phantom of the Opera,“ Landsbergis said in an interview with Delfi.
„That episode, unexpectedly for me (...), was painful for the President“, the Minister added.
„I would say that it was the axis. It seems to have transformed into (...) rather harsh internal statements on the appointment“, the Minister said, hinting that he understood that the President had similarly settled scores with other people in the diplomatic corps.
Landsbergis claimed that one of them is the Deputy Foreign Minister Simonas Šatūnas. A few years ago, he was at the centre of a row between the Conservatives and the President over who should head Lithuania's EU representation.
As the Minister explained, during the pandemic, the Presidency was convinced that Šatūnas had managed to persuade the President of the European Commission to mention Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė alongside Nausėda's name in a tweet thanking the President for the smooth vaccination.
„The President, or rather his team, was convinced that by some magic Mr Šatūnas was able to persuade Ursula von der Leyen to change the barn, and thus his chances of becoming an ambassador were reduced to a very small one,“ said Landsbergis.
„There have been situations like this, and I have been close to at least a few“, the politician added.
Politician is glad being able to return to active domestic politics
However, he explained that the closed door to the European Commission will allow him to be more active in domestic politics. According to Landsbergis, he will do so in the near future.
„On the one hand, I am happy that I can devote much more time to domestic politics. I think it is a ripe issue,“ the Minister told Delfi.
„I have become much more involved in the activities of the staff. There are a lot of issues in domestic politics that need to be addressed. I think that turning a new leaf, even if I did not write it myself, gives me a wide range of opportunities,“ the Minister summed up his situation positively.
ELTA recalls that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė presented to the Coalition Council the candidacy of MEP Kubilius for the European Commission (EK) on Monday. She said he was a candidate on whom a consensus had been found with the President.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Landsbergis, who had been discussed in the media and political corridors as a possible EU Commissioner, told Elta last Friday that he had received information that President Nausėda would not support his candidacy.
For his part, Nausėda assured that the decision not to nominate conservative leader Landsbergis as Lithuania's representative to the European Commission was not motivated by revenge or personal considerations. The Head of State admitted that he did not like some of the qualities of the Minister's manner and the decision to concentrate only on foreign policy.
The nomination of the Commissioner is made by the Government, in agreement with the President and the Seimas.
