Šakalienė and Jeglinskas assess Žemaitaitis' plans to initiate an audit of the Ministry of Defence

2025 m. sausio 27 d. 13:03
Lrytas.lt
Reacting to the plans of Remigijus Žemaitaitis, the Chairman of Nemuno Aušra, to conduct an audit of the Ministry of National Defence (MND), Minister Dovilė Šakalienė stresses that all additional initiatives aimed at increasing transparency are welcome.
Daugiau nuotraukų (1)
„Transparency in the national defence system is one of my priorities for my mandate. We are working together with the STT and other institutions to ensure this. All additional initiatives to increase transparency are also welcome,“ Minister of National Defence Šakalienė told Elta.
The Chairman of the NSGK sees no need for an audit
For his part, Giedrimas Jeglinskas, Chairman of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence (NSGK), is sceptical about the initiative of Žemaitaitis. The politician emphasises that audits are initiated in the national defence system regularly.
„To my knowledge, national defence is constantly audited, constantly monitored by the State Audit Office, the Public Procurement Service, etc. (...) There must be a clear pretext and a clear vision of why such an audit is needed,“ Jeglinskas told Elta.
The Chairman of the NSGK stresses that there are no arguments for a new audit in the Ministry so far.
„I don't know what the purpose of such statements is; it could be a desire for attention again and Mr Žemaitaitis's desire to show off“, Jeglinskas said.
Last week, the Chairman of Nemuno Aušra, Žemaitaitis, informed that the group he leads in the Seimas will propose an audit of the MoD during the spring session of the Seimas. The Dawn Breakers group leader claims this is necessary to dispel any doubts about the transparency of the use of the funds in the Ministry.
The politician said he had several questions about public procurement in the ministry. Žemaitaitis said that he would seek to have the audit carried out by the State Audit Office. However, he said, there was another way to ask the Government to initiate it.
ELTA recalls that the National Defence Council (VGT), which met in January, agreed to allocate 5–6% of GDP annually to the country's defence for 2026–2030. According to the Head of State, Gitanas Nausėda, the funding level of 5.5% of GDP should be maintained over the four years.
The President pointed out that this level of defence funding could be achieved by reallocating the country's resources but stressed the need to avoid tax increases.
According to the VGT decision, additional allocations are needed to form an army division in Lithuania by 2030. The October VGT concluded that the division could not reach full operational capability by the agreed-upon deadline with current funding.
The VGT approved the proposal to form a national army division as early as May 2023.

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