„The State Audit Office report was the whole point and the highlight. The National Audit Office should have started first, not last. It is a disgrace that the army and the MoD walked out of the Chamber without waiting for the audit. This is another scandalous fact,“ Žemaitaitis told reporters at the Seimas on Tuesday.
„This was new to me; it was astonishing. We will have to discuss what the State Audit Office has presented in the ruling coalition. Here, it is of limited use“, he stressed.
However, Dawn Breaker remains sceptical about the initiative of Saulius Skvernelis, the Speaker of the Seimas, to discuss threats to Lithuania in a closed session.
Susiję straipsniai
„They presented the same thing as in your portals (available – ELTA). It is exciting how the information added as restricted information ends up in the media. It is really scandalous because here you read it as restricted, but on the portals and in the news, we see it as unrestricted“, Žemaitaitis said.
„Let's not play games. Restricted material means that officials of a hostile country can use that material if we have it on the portals, and they try to say that it is restricted – you know, it's weird. (...) The question is whether our state ensures the stability, the secrecy and the non-leakage of classified information. Why make a circus with a restricted closed session when all the material has already been distributed?“ he stressed.
ELTA recalls that on Tuesday, the Seimas held a closed session during which parliamentarians were presented with restricted information on threats to the country, defence and division plans, and a review of the findings of an audit carried out at the Ministry of National Defence (KAM).
The closed session of the Seimas was attended by the Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė and the Chief of Defence Raimundas Vaikšnoras. The threat assessment was presented by the Director of the Second Operational Services Department (AOTD), Elegijus Paulavičius. The defence plans and the issue of the national division were presented by the Chief of the Defence Staff, Remigijus Baltrėnas.
Representatives of the Armed Forces and the MoD also discussed the needs of the national defence system for the period 2025–2030. Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys gave an overview of the challenges to national security in the current geopolitical situation. At the same time, Auditor General Mindaugas Macijauskas presented an analysis of the defence budget management.
Unlike the Seimas's usual plenary sessions, the closed evening session on Tuesday was held in the historic March 11th Act Hall.
Parliamentarians, other participants in the closed session, and the staff serving it had to leave their mobile phones and other electronic equipment in dedicated lockers before entering the hall. State Security Service (VAT) officials also checked the persons invited to the meeting.
During the session, access to and movement in the First Chamber of the Parliament, including for journalists, and mobile and internet connections were restricted.