"The disinformation campaign continues in an effort to discredit Lithuania’s decision to strengthen its national defence," Skvernelis told reporters on Thursday.
The Seimas speaker commented Žemaitaitis’ claims that people’s deposits would be allegedly nationalised to fund defence, as well as the MP’s proposals to lift sanctions on Belarusian fertilisers.
"Other institutions should react as disinformation is being spread or the same lexicon used as Russia does in many countries. […] This is a classic example of disinformation. […] As regards political action, well, we are waiting for the major coalition partner [Social Democrats] to convene the coalition council to discuss how the coalition agreement is being implemented, whose main priority is very clear – further strengthening of our independence, defence and support for Ukraine," said Skvernelis.
He stressed that the LSDP, Democrats For Lithuania and the Nemunas Dawn had committed to fully support Ukraine until victory and to help rebuild the country once war with Russia ends.
He said that the statements made by the leader of the Nemunas Dawn contradict the commitments undertaken by his party.
Skvernelis added that the congress of Democrats For Lithuania would take place on 8 March and the party would discuss the situation in the coalition.
The parliament speaker was asked if Democrats For Lithuania might withdraw from the ruling coalition.
"Decisions will be adopted. I would not like to speculate what the decisions may be until we have conversations with coalition partners," stated Skvernelis.
As reported, Žemaitaitis, who is notorious for his controversial statements, recently objected to the idea that Lithuania’s defence spending would be raised to 5-6% of GDP in 2026-2030. When Skvernelis suggested that he should visit Ukraine to learn why this was needed, Žemaitaitis declared that Ukraine can only teach people how to be corrupt and sell out the country.
Meanwhile, President Gitanas Nausėda has suggested establishing special savings accounts where people would keep their money in return for interest and thus contribute to funding defence projects. The president pointed out that interest is not paid for money in people keep in their current accounts and the funds are not being used effectively. At a meeting with his supporters Žemaitaitis claimed that people’s deposits would be "nationalised".
Leader of the Nemunas Dawn also called to lift sanctions on Belarusian fertilisers to boost revenues that could be used for defence spending.
The presidency afterwards stated that Žemaitaitis echoed Russian propaganda.
In the 2020-2024 term of office Žemaitaitis faced impeachment when the Constitutional Court ruled that he violated his oath and the Constitution by making antisemitic statements on social platforms. He stepped down as MP in April 2024 in order to avoid impeachment and was elected to the Seimas again in October that year.