"Yes, I can confirm that the Social Democrats are calling a siting of the Coalition Council on Monday," Justinas Argustas, adviser to Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas, said on Tuesday.
He said that the Coalition Council is scheduled to discuss the latest political developments, among others, the plan of measures to implement the Government’s programme, proposed changes related to the second pillar pension scheme and other issues.
Some members of the ruling majority have recently called for a meeting of the Coalition Council to evaluate the public statements of Žemaitaitis.
The leader of the Nemunas Dawn, a coalition party, has recently lashed out at the State Defence Council’s move to raise defence spending to 5-6% of GDP in 2026-2030 due to the Russian threat. Seimas Speaker Saulius Skvernelis suggested that Žemaitaitis should visit Ukraine to see why greater defence spending was necessary. In response, Žemaitaitis stated that Ukraine could only teach people how to be corrupt and sell out the country.
The MP also criticised the president’s proposal to create special savings accounts where people could keep their money in return for interest and help fund defence projects. Nausėda said people would benefit as interest is not paid for money kept in current accounts. Commenting about the president’s idea at a meeting with his supporters, Žemaitaitis claimed that people’s deposits would be "nationalised".
He also said that national defence could be financed from the funds that Lithuania could receive after lifting sanctions on the transit of Belarusian fertiliser.
Skvernelis has said Žemaitaitis’ statements about Ukraine are unacceptable. Earlier he described them as a disinformation campaign.
President Nausėda noted that Žemaitaitis was discrediting himself and Lithuania, and seemed to be becoming increasingly pro-Russian. The president thus did not rule out that changes might be inevitable in the ruling coalition.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Paluckas continues to play down concerns about Žemaitaitis’ talks. These statements have no real negative consequences, he said.