Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Rugienė resigned on Tuesday, along with her cabinet, concluding a ten-month tenure. She is expected to return to the government as Minister of Social Affairs in the new cabinet likely to be led by Mindaugas Sinkevičius.
Sinkevičius will be the third prime minister from the Social Democratic Party following the 2024 elections. “Nothing in politics is permanent, and as politicians, we must understand that our positions are not eternal,” Rugienė told journalists after the final cabinet meeting. “We are given a certain period of time to do good work, and I believe this government has properly used this time.”
Rugienė’s brief premiership was marked by several crises, including incidents of balloon smuggling, drone incursions, a record-high defense budget set at 5.38% of GDP, and the dismissal of the ministers of culture and defense. Allegations of law violations involving family members on official trips to Italy and the Vatican, as well as mishandling information regarding a data leak from the Center of Registers, may have contributed to her resignation.
However, Rugienė described her resignation as part of a “normal political process,” noting that it was anticipated that Sinkevičius would lead the government last year, but “this step was simply postponed,” without elaborating further. Rugienė took office in August of last year following the resignation of Gintautas Paluckas, who faced accusations of unethical financial transactions related to loans, EU funds, and business connections involving him and his relatives.
Formation of the new government and foreign policy challenges
Rugienė is expected to return to where “her heart truly lies” — the position of Minister of Social Security — after the formation and approval of the new cabinet led by Sinkevičius. President Gitanas Nausėda is anticipated to submit the candidacy of the Social Democrats’ leader Mindaugas Sinkevičius to the Lithuanian parliament Seimas on Thursday, according to LRT. Once the Seimas approves the president’s candidate, the president will appoint the prime minister and task him with forming a government. The current Rugienė cabinet will remain in place until a new government is established.
Although Sinkevičius stated last week that changes in the cabinet would not be “significant,” there is speculation regarding the future of Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys, who is perceived as closer to the president than to the Social Democrats. Budrys faces the challenging task of normalizing relations with China — a key foreign policy commitment in the new coalition agreement. “If not, we will consider this issue [regarding Budrys’ future] differently,” the president remarked, according to LRT.
At the EU level, Lithuania is coordinating its actions with France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands — countries that, during last week’s European Council meeting, called for broader use of tariffs and other protective trade measures to counter China’s unfair trade practices.
Coalition reshuffle and ministry distribution
The government reshuffle follows the Social Democrats’ decision to exclude the populist party “Dawn of Nemunas” from the ruling coalition, while the Democrats “For Lithuania” agreed to rejoin it. According to the new coalition agreement, the Social Democrats — the largest party in the Seimas — will retain nine ministries: environment, finance, defense, culture, social security, transport, education and sports, foreign affairs, and internal affairs. The Democrats “For Lithuania” will oversee three: healthcare, agriculture, and energy. The “Farmers and Greens” and their allies will keep the ministries of economy and justice.
Source: Euronews