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Lithuanian president wants defense minister to resign amid procurement scandal

Xinhua, September 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Tuesday the country's defense minister had to take political responsibility for poor control over defense spending.

Grybauskaite said Juozas Olekas had discredited himself and could no longer work following the scandal of Lithuanian army's procurement.

The country's president admitted that while all parties had agreed to substantially increase defense spending, "it looks very bad when these funds are used to buy golden things, and when the minister doesn't take responsibility," Grybauskaite told local media after meeting the leaders of the country's parliament on Tuesday.

Last week, Lithuania's public procurement office announced the Lithuanian army had bought kitchen items for around eight times the market prices in 2014. Olekas claimed he had applied to the country's prosecutors asking to launch an investigation into possible fraud in 2014.

Grybauskaite accused the minister of not raising the question about the pricing of the army's purchases.

Though the total sum paid for the army's kitchen items was relatively small, the revealed pricing has caused moral damage to the country's ongoing efforts to increase defense spending, political analysts say.

Olekas says he doesn't see a reason to resign.

"I disagree with these accusations which insult me as a person who has been serving the state for so long," Olekas was quoted as saying by Lithuanian national radio LRT.

"I didn't lie, I have been telling the truth, and I'm telling it now," said Olekas.

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said he trusted Olekas and urged the president not to politicize during the election period, according to the prime minister's press officers.

Lithuania is to elect its parliament next month.

Lithuania's defense budget amounts to around 575 million euros (647.38 million U.S. dollars), or around 1.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The country has set itself a goal to increase defense spending up to 2.0 percent of GDP by 2018.

In recent years, the Baltic country has stepped up its defense capabilities and increased defense spending, citing security threats in the Eastern Europe. Endit