The Lithuanian Foreign Minister, a career diplomat Vygaudas Ušackas will loose his post sooner than anticipated.  According to the Lietuvos rytas daily sources, the Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has run out of options of defending the Minister.

This becomes apparent after President Dalia Grybauskaitė has publicly stated that on 13 January that she has never backed Mr Ušackas.  When asked if the President could continue her work with the Minister Grybauskaitė said, “I have never publicly said he had my support”.

Previously, Grybauskaitė accused the minister of failing to respond to her signals.  According to the Lietuvos rytas’ sources the straw that broke the camel’s back was after Ušackas publicly doubted if it was sensible to invite Belarusian President to Vilnius to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lithuania’s Independence on 11 March this year.  Grybauskaitė, on the other hand, on 13 January publicly stated that she is planning to “invite all presidents of Europe and presidents of neighbouring states” assuming that amongst those is the Belarusian President.

Lietuvos rytas says that Ušackas fate will be decided on 18 January, at Government’s meeting with Grybauskaitė.  The Prime Minister Kubilius on 14 January raised his concerns about the situation.  On an interview to Ziniu radijas he said, “Mutual understanding and trust between the President’s institution and the Foreign Ministry is pivotal, and I certainly see some challenges, which raise concerns. We will discuss this”.

The Conservative party, which delegated Ušackas to the Minister’s post, are also unsatisfied with the Minister.  According to the daily the Minister of Defence, influential member of the Conservative party Rasa Juknevičienė also supports the President’s position.  Another influential Conservative, the Parliament’s Speaker Irena Degutienė has also indicated that she would support Ušackas’ replacement with the Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee for Foreign Affairs Mr. Audronis Ažubalis.