Lithuanian interior minister cancels resignation

Saulius Skvernelis, the interior minister of Lithuania, decided to stay in his post after meeting the prime minister on Monday.

Skvernelis decided to take back his resignation letter after the conversation with Algirdas Butkevicius, the head of the cabinet.

The interior minister said he changed his mind after receiving support from the prime minister. Skvernelis said he is to continue working as the interior minister till the end of his term, the fall of 2016.

"I made a decision to work in the team with the prime minister and to do the work which maybe is not popular but necessary for the security of Lithuanian people," Skvernelis was quoted as saying by Lithuanian National Radio LRT.

Butkevicius rejected Skvernelis' application of resignation and said he is satisfied with the minister's work. Butkevicius told local media that despite intolerable mistakes made by several policemen, Skvernelis has earned public support.

"In very short time, the interior minister has made a great work in the interior system," Butkevicius told journalists after the meeting.

"I think, if we would compare it with the work of former ministers, we would see a massive stride in reformation of the interior system," he added.

According to the latest polls, Skvernelis, the former chief of the country's police, is among the most trusted politicians in the country.

Skvernelis decided to resign after having received criticism from the country's president and the chair of the parliament in the aftermath of the public security incident in Vilnius, Lithuanian capital, two weeks ago.

A detained criminal managed to take away a Kalashnikov rifle from the police officers and escape. That led to a five-hour manhunt operation throughout the city with around 3,000 officers. Endit