„The facts are that this Commission is ongoing, and it coincides with the presidential elections, it's been five years since the events being investigated by the Commission. Independent state institutions responsible for investigations have examined various related issues. And conservatives dominate this Commission and shape certain perceptions,“ J. Niewierowicz commented to journalists in the Seimas after his testimony to the Commission.“
„The conclusion is that this is a political process to try to influence the ongoing presidential elections. In my opinion, this is just a noise because people have a good opinion of Nausėda's performance“, he added.
Bakas reacted to the criticism of the Seimas Commission
Vytautas Bakas, the temporary Commission chairman investigating the VSD (DSS) whistleblower's story, calls such criticism politicking. He said the President's adviser did not express these thoughts publicly or in a closed session.
„I would consider this to be politicisation. Mr. Niewierowicz understands perfectly well that this compromises the national interests of all of us,“ Bakas said.
The chairman of the Commission said a week ago that an invitation had been sent not only to the President's advisers but also to Gitanas Nausėda himself, but he had not yet received a reply on the participation of the Head of State.
„No reply has been received so far, but today we decided to write questions, and we will send them to His Excellency,“ he said.
The presidential adviser had comments for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (URM)
During the public hearing of the Commission, Newierowicz said that his task as an adviser on sanctions was to collect and analyse the necessary information. He said the aim was to assess the impact of the sanctions on Lithuanian companies and the transport sector (Lithuanian Railways, Lithuanian Seaport). However, according to the presidential advisor, such assessments should have been the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (URM).
„The problem was that the Government did not do this assessment. In many cases, the impression was that the Government acted without such assessments and could not answer for the possible consequences and assessments“, said Mr Niewierowicz.
„The ministry dealing with foreign affairs acted without such assessments and without being able to identify the risks. This was a problem because it was low-quality work in the ministry, without even discussing what should be done and how. Salaries are paid to people in ministries so that they know the answers and can help decision-makers,“ the adviser reflected.
For his part, Mr Niewierowicz stressed that he had not made any suggestions to Transport Minister Marius Skuodžius on excluding fertilisers from the sanctions package.
„How could I suggest to the Minister not to introduce sanctions? It is not his competence“, he replied to the Commission.
ELTA reminds that the special Commission VSD whistleblower, established by the Seimas, is trying to answer the question of whether, during the 2019 presidential election campaign, the intelligence service legally collected information about the candidates, their environment, how it handled it, and whether it passed on such information to anyone.
It also seeks to determine whether SEB Bank customers' data was used in the recent campaign and what electoral costs were incurred by the candidates. Questions are also being raised about the links between President Nausėda, who won the elections, and representatives of the Belarusian fertiliser business. In addition, the Commission aims to determine whether the law enforcement authorities – the Special Investigation Service (STT) and the General Prosecutor's Office – have correctly assessed the information received following the whistleblower's appeal.
The first time the whistleblower's story came to the attention of the Seimas was in 2019 when the information provided by the whistleblower reached the National Security and Defence Committee NSGK (NSDC) of the Seimas. Still, after assessing the situation, the latter acknowledged that the VSD (DSS) had acted within the scope of its competencies.
The story of the whistleblower returned to the centre of the political debate with the publication of the book The Whistleblower and the President by journalists Davidas Pancerovas and Birutė Davidonytė, which exposes the VSD's allegedly illegal collection of data on individuals during the presidential election campaign.
The Commission has to submit its conclusion and draft resolution to the Seimas by 10 March.
