Lithuania’s Prime Minsiter Kubilius said this morning that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Usackas should submit his letter of resignation in the nearest future.  He also stated that he is sorry for Mr Usackas to go, since he is one of the best diplomats Lithuania has.  President Grybauskaite expressed her non-confidence towards the Minister on 20 January.

On 21 January, the Prime Minister said Ziniu radijas, “I will discuss the minister’s resignation, which he will turn in to me shortly, with the party’s leadership, which delegated him, and they will have to decide on what to do next”.  However, he added that he regrets that Usackas has to leave the Cabinet, “The situation at hand is quite regretful, because, in my opinion, Usackas is a professional, so it’s really sad to see that the president can no longer work with the minister”.

The ultimate like request for Usackas to resign came on 20 January, after Mr Kubilius paid a planned visit to Grybauskaite.  After the visit the President’s office issued a statement that clearly indicated Grybauskaite’s firm stance on the issue.  The statement said, ‘According to the President, she has lost confidence in the Foreign Minister, and foreign policy therefore may not be implemented efficiently. The President urged the Prime Minister to take procedural actions and to come up with a proposal to dismiss Foreign Minister Vygaudas Ušackas from office.’

The statement also reads, ‘According to the President, foreign policy is especially important for Lithuania’s interests and may not be manipulated by a minister for political self-promotion.’

The Lithuanian media speculates when this strained relationship between the President and the soon to be former Minister of Foreign Affairs began.  Audrius Bačiulis from Veidas weekly thinks that this mutual mistrust between the two came about ten years ago, when they both worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Lietuvos rytas, on the other hand, mentions September 2009, when Grybauskaite and Usackas both participated at the UN’s General Assembly Session.  According to the paper, meanwhile in New York, in informal conversations Usackas was several times asked about Lukashenko’s visit to Vilnius.  Mr Usackas denied his involvement in organising the visit of the Belarusian President and pointed to Grybauskaite.  Apparently, Grybauskaite found out about those Usackas conversations and did not appreciate that.

The lecturer for the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science Tomas Janeliunas said to BNS,”You could really see that public relations were a considerably important domain for the foreign minister. On the other hand, it remains a question if this is really in any way detrimental to Lithuania’s true foreign policy interests. The president hasn’t given any public explanation what kind of damage to Lithuania’s foreign policy is she referring to”.

However, the other lecturer from the same university Mr Kestutis Girnius said, “In the period of the last two months, their positions diverged considerably, especially the minister’s statement on the existence of a CIA prison, when it was plain to see that the president saw this as an issue of utmost importance, so here he basically challenged the president and here’s her response.”

There is no favourite to replace Mr Usackas.  Media mentions Audronis Azubalis the Chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sarunas Admovavicius  and Asta Skaisgiryte-Liauskiene, President’s advisor Darius Semeska and even the current Minister of Defence Rasa Jukneviciene.