Political analyst Bernaras Ivanovas assesses on Žinių Radijas programme as to why the Head of State rushed to come out with the news of the arrest, why the conflict with Bilotaitė arose and whether Nausėda's statement could undermine the pre-trial investigation.
What happened?
President Nausėda summoned journalists on his way to the conference on Friday morning, at around 10 o'clock, to announce the arrest of two suspects in the assault of the Russian oppositionist Volkov in Poland.
After announcing the fact, the Head of State did not answer any further questions from the journalists and hurried to the event.
However, the fact that such information was made public by Nausėda was soon criticised by the Minister of the Interior, Ms. Bilotaitė. She stressed that the Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau was carrying out the pre-trial investigation into the attack on Volkov and that these actions were not for the public. According to Bilotaitė, it was a „responsibility of the services to comment on them, not politicians, and no matter what political position they hold“.
„It is regrettable that politicians and public figures go out to speak in public without thinking about their responsibility, that this may undermine the ongoing pre-trial investigation and, of course, harm and even endanger the very persons who are the cause of the current events,“ said Ms Bilotaitė.
A few hours later, the prosecutors quickly held a press conference to confirm the information published by Nausėda – without revealing much more.
Justas Laucius, Chief Prosecutor of the Vilnius Regional Prosecutor's Office, announced that the attackers had been arrested on 3 April, that they were Polish citizens, and that their extradition to Lithuania was expected in May.
Laucius didn't overemphasise President Nausėda's statement, saying that the Head of State has the right to speak on issues of public interest.
However, when asked whether the President's statement had prompted the Prosecutor General's Office to announce the arrest of Volkov's assailants earlier than planned, the prosecutor did not give a straight answer.
„We have come to tell the good news—there are two people, they are suspects, they are detained, and they will return to Lithuania, and that would be the essence of this conference,“ Laucius responded to the question.
Finally, Nausėda himself was asked by journalists whether he was sure that the information he had published would not undermine the investigation, as Bilotaitė said.
„Perhaps it is not up to Ms Bilotaitė to tell me what I should and should not say. She should devote her energy more to creating a civil cover-up and other works at the ministry's disposal,“ said Nausėda.
„Certainly, it will not harm the investigations and the processes because we have very carefully assessed when we can do it and when it will no longer affect the quality of the operation,“ he added.
What’s happening is obvious
Asked what is going on in this case, political analyst Ivanovas said without hesitation that it is simply an election campaign.
„They are not sharing the laurels – the result was achieved mainly by the Polish services, while ours are just trying to outdo each other, thus scoring political points.
In that sense, of course, it is rather sad to watch. Our politicians should not behave like this, and they should not be fighting publicly“, the political scientist said on Žinių Radijas.
In any case, according to Ivanovas, the very fact of the detention is good news for Lithuania.
„Everything happened much earlier – on 3 April. This is the news that we were all waiting for, both those who follow political processes and those who follow Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the hybrid war.
It is a matter of absolute honour to hunt down and punish such actors because otherwise, it seems that Europe is such a passable backyard that the Russian GRU feels free here, unpunished,“ the political analyst said.
The political scientist pointed to a broader context: not only do Russian agents carry out various assaults and demonstrative injuries, but also committing murders right in the middle of Europe – in Berlin, Spain, and London.
„This is part of Russia's war against the West and must be responded to and dealt with accordingly. All such cases must be brought to light, and there must be maximum publicity.
I am amazed at our endless desire, especially by our officials, to hide everything, wrap everything in cotton wool, and show nothing. This is a lousy tradition dating back to Soviet times. And it is not right to behave in this way.
This is a case where information should be made as public as possible, and we should not be told about pre-trial investigations that someone might harm someone else,“ Ivanovas said.
When asked whether he thought it was already possible to communicate this news to the public on 3 April, when they were detained, Ivanovas stressed the role of Poland itself.
„This is probably the result of the Polish services' actions. We need to find out the circumstances under which the Poles informed Lithuania. Or they just informed Lithuania today. Perhaps the President announced the information he had just heard.
In any case, when all the players have been caught and there is no threat of the others being detained, the information can be published. I do not think that the Poles would have made an announcement at a time when there was no need to make any information public.
Yes, information has come in that there are more suspects, and the arrests are continuing. Still, the announcement itself, I don't think it would make any difference to the officials' actions,“ the political analyst reflected.
Nausėda himself said that he had been personally informed of the detention by the President of Poland and that Nausėda had been aware of the detention several weeks ago but had followed all procedural steps not to jeopardise the operation's success.
Mr Ivanovas is inclined to doubt such words of the Head of State.
„I would question whether this is what was announced earlier. I don't think so – it could just be the words of a politician, and that's it. The information, I think, did not pass so quickly. Probably two weeks without a message – I don't think that's possible. As the saying goes, what two people know, everybody already knows“, the political scientist did not rule out.
