„I wonder about the lack of activity? Here, I spoke to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, on Sunday; today, I spoke to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and tomorrow, I am meeting the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni. I don't know how much more activity could be developed“, the President told reporters in Italy.
„Mr Žemaitaitis, as a performer in a travelling circus, always has many ideas. The only problem is that not everybody is interested in them“, Nausėda added.
Žemaitaitis criticised Lithuania's foreign policy on Facebook. The politician, who is famous for his scandalous statements, said Lithuanian diplomacy is leading to „international isolation.“
For his part, Žemaitaitis, reacting to the Head of State's words, believes that the party he leads is simply expressing its opinion.
„I do not comment on comments. He can say whatever he wants. We, Nemuno Aušra, have our own opinion about what is happening now,“ Žemaitaitis told Elta.
ELTA reminds us that this is not the first public quarrel between the leader of Nemuno Aušra and the President. Tensions flared up at the beginning of his term in office when Nausėda said that the Social Democrats' decision to form a coalition with Nemuno Aušra was a mistake. He then indicated that he would not approve the ministers' nominations from Nemuno Aušra parties.
Later, Žemaitaitis began to publicly criticise the decision of the Council for National Defence (VGT) to increase allocations for national defence significantly. When the President of the Seimas, Saulius Skvernelis, called on politicians who questioned this to go to Ukraine, the Dawn member said that he did not see the point in doing so.
Shortly afterwards, in meetings with voters, the MEP spoke negatively about President Nausėda, claiming that the country's leader proposed nationalising people's deposits and using them for defence.
This position of Žemaitaitis was criticised by the Presidential Office, where the Chief Adviser of the Head of State, Frederikas Jansonas, compared the MP to the Russian propagandists Zakharova and Peskov.
At the same time, the Head of State stated that if Žemaitaitis continued to discredit Lithuania with such statements, changes in the ranks of the current coalition would be inevitable. Nausėda also referred to the possibility of criminal liability for such panic-inducing statements.
„Such statements are dire; they cause much confusion here in Lithuania by frightening people. Because what is being done is scaring people. And it is, among other things, subject to criminal liability if, for example, such nonsense and its dissemination cause panic among depositors. Mr Žemaitaitis should be put on trial for such speeches“, Nausėda told journalists earlier.
A couple of weeks ago, Žemaitaitis also did not attend a meeting of parliamentary parties initiated by the President on the renewal of the defence agreement. At the time, Nemuno Aušra politician said that he had not been able to return from a business trip to Brussels. However, the party did not delegate any representative to the discussion at the Presidential Palace.