As the conservatives continue to be shaken by a possible paedophilia scandal, the party's patriarch, V.Landsbergis, entered the arena.
Naturally, he categorically rejected the possibility that, while Bartoševičius was in Chile, he had been informed of the prosecutors' intentions to apply to the Seimas for the lifting of his legal immunity by the head of the parliament, V.Čmilytė-Nielsen, or by someone in the Conservative leadership. Landsbergis was adamant that Bartoševičius could have received this information from the possible victims, their relatives or other close contacts.
Defending the party, the professor reasoned that it was unlikely that there would be "secret paedophiles" in its ranks, although he also recalled that a high-ranking politician had recently been found to be a paedophile or "simply a homosexual" in a certain country.
Susiję straipsniai
Expanding on the theme of homosexuality and paedophilia, Landsbergis recalled his own furore in the European Parliament more than a decade ago over the exact identification and went on to suggest that homosexuals are more prone to paedophilia than anyone else.
Naturally, such statements caused considerable outrage among the LGBT community itself, human rights defenders and the right-wing coalition partners, the 'libertarians' alike.
Landsbergis was quick to apologise and say that he had been misunderstood. But the impression is that he genuinely sees the links between homosexuality and paedophilia that he has drawn in his statements and that this perception has been maintained and strengthened.
This, by the way, is a reflection of the same views held by a large part of Lithuanian society, which seeks to justify and rationalise its homophobia in this way.
This week, Landsbergis also addressed the nation from the balcony of the Signatari House in the capital, where he traditionally speaks on 16 February. Here, he no longer delved into the possible paedophilia scandal but slammed the West, which he said is still trading too much with Russia and thus financing the war on ogres.
The patriarch of the right also slammed the Mayor of Kaunas, V. Matijošaitis, whose business does not collect any items in Russia, and the businessman G. Žiemelis, who allegedly does not give a single penny of the huge profits he makes in Russia to support Ukraine.
At the same time, Žiemelis's representatives categorically claim that they have long stopped doing business in Russia and that they have suffered significant losses there.
This week, the country's leader, G. Nausėda, seems to have been overly enthusiastic on the subject, as he strongly criticised the conservatives' reaction to the possible paedophilia scandal.
The President spoke of "skeletons in the closet" and "the truth that has come out of the closet", as well as of the phenomenon of paedophilia, which has already reached even the Seimas as if Bartoševičius' crime had already been proven and the conservatives were deliberately trying to cover it up.
The President may know the facts of the case, but he has clearly overreached himself in his attempt to stir up the right wing once again.
Another issue that has been tripping up various political figures this week is Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
During the debate between the candidates for mayor of Šilutė, the well-known basketball coach R. Kuncaitis, who the Peasants nominated, suddenly did not know how to answer who owns Crimea. He said that de facto Crimea belongs to Russia. When the debater gave him the opportunity to state that Crimea is Ukrainian territory, the candidate refused to do so.
The reaction of the peasants was lightning fast: they expelled Kuncaitis from their ranks, and the party distanced itself from any hesitation on issues such as Russian aggression and Crimea's belonging to Ukraine.
However, Kuncaitis's phrase also reflects the views of a part of the Lithuanian society that is anti-Western and pro-Russian.
Such people are outraged by the support of Lithuania and other countries for Ukraine and see the war there as a Western conspiracy against Russia.
As if on cue, another Peasant activist, the party's candidate for Mayor of Vilnius, MEP S. Jakeliūnas, has been talking about this these days. He said that Russia was "partly" provoked into attacking Ukraine by the West, which was too much in favour of the attacked country.
When the uproar started again, Karbauskis spoke differently than he did about Kuncaitis, saying that such statements were only "opinions" and "interpretations" and that no red lines had been crossed. Are they really?
It turned out that Jakeliūnas had decided not to stop after all and had given an interview to the scandalous pro-Russian figure L.Ragelskis, who had been arrested by the police on 16 February again for trying to clash with people celebrating in the city.
In the half-hour video interview, Jakeliūnas criticised the West and Lithuania for their support for Ukraine and suggested that not only the Russian regime leader Putin but also former US President Bush should be brought before the Hague Tribunal.
The Vilnius mayoral candidate also resented the fact that Lithuanian politicians and Russians fleeing Russia is being asked about Crimea. He called this fascism.
Later, Jakeliunas excused himself for not knowing anything about Ragelskis but defended his position even more stubbornly and appealed to freedom of speech and democracy.
I wonder whether Karbauskis will now also think that some red line has been crossed or not. If he continues to explain that all this is just a free expression of opinion, the party's position on Kunkaitis will also hang in the air.
The impression will be that what is not allowed for one is allowed for the other because he is more important.
In any case, such things are a reminder that the part of society that holds pro-Russian views has not disappeared, and the Russian aggression in Ukraine, which has crossed the new frontiers of brutality, has not changed their attitudes in the least.