Lithuanian Minister of Culture Ignotas Adomavičius has resigned following a scandal sparked by his remarks about the Crimean peninsula's ownership. He was appointed to the post only in the second half of September, but the decision to entrust the portfolio of Minister of Culture to his right-wing and populist party "Dawn of the Neman" has caused outrage among the Baltic republic's cultural community, BTA reports.
Last week, a journalist from the news website "Lrytas" conducted an interview with the newly appointed Minister Adomavičius and asked him who the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia, belongs to.
"These are provocative questions, so let's not even get into it, because the Ministry of Culture has nothing to do with this," the Minister said, quoted by the Lithuanian Radio and Television. The Minister also stressed that Ukraine could achieve victory faster if it dealt with corruption. "Ukraine would have won the war much faster if corruption there had been controlled. So it could have allocated more money for defense, it would have defended itself faster, better and more stably," said Adomavičius. He added that the fight against corruption is the responsibility of Ukraine, not the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, although his country can help with information, knowledge and funding.
This is not the only action of the new minister that has caused bewilderment: earlier, Ukrainian flags were removed from his personal office, as well as from the ministry's press center. The institution published a statement in which it said that the Ukrainian flags were removed briefly for cleaning.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the ruling coalition "Dawn of Neman" has previously been distinguished by anti-Ukrainian statements. Thus, when former Parliament Speaker Saulius Skvernelis called on the leader of "Dawn" Remigijus Žemaitaitis to visit Ukraine to get acquainted with the situation on the ground, he stated that there "one can only learn to take bribes, be corrupt and sell weapons". Before his party became part of the ruling coalition, Žemaitaitis also posted on social media that in the event of war he would be the first to evacuate his family and give coordinates for bombing the homes of the "piglets from the conservative government" that was in power at the time.
The opposition in the Lithuanian Seimas has asked Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė to explain the decision to give the post of Minister of Culture to a representative of "Neman Dawn", the Ukrainian publication "Europaeuska Pravda" reported. According to the opposition, despite public outrage over such a decision, the Prime Minister "is not reacting to the situation" and "is distorting the protesters' demands to remove "Neman Dawn" from the cultural sphere, presenting them as a demand to remove the party from the coalition, which will ultimately lead to the collapse of the coalition. Former Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurinas Kasiūnas also said that the country's ministries "are turning into a circus" with the appointment of people like Adomavičius.
Inga Ruginė, in turn, said that she expected Adomavičius to resign after the "completely unacceptable for me personally and for the entire coalition" interview. At the same time, she added that if he resigned voluntarily, there would be no need to convene a coalition council.
The Social Democratic Party of Lithuania, which is the main party in the ruling coalition, also expressed indignation. "The party noted the doubts in society and the cultural community regarding the activities and communication of Culture Minister Adomavičius. We had high expectations of him, so it is logical that now we have questions about his performance," party chairman Mindaugas Sinkevicius said on Facebook. "The Social Democrats, the government and the coalition remain united and will make every effort for the victory of Ukraine and the security of Lithuania", he assured.
Later, the presidential office issued a statement saying that Adomavičius's position was unacceptable and could make him unfit to be a minister: "This position of a member of the Lithuanian government is incomprehensible, unacceptable and raises a legitimate question as to whether this person can be a member of the government".
Adomavičius was ultimately forced to resign. At a press conference on Friday, he said he made the decision due to growing pressure, the need to protect his family and because he decided not to harm the government but to help it function. He said his "Dawn of the Neman" party was proud that culture was in the spotlight and thanked Prime Minister Ruginenė, President Nausėda and his party for their trust, reported the "Delfi" portal, which covers information from the three Baltic republics. Already after his resignation, he clarified his position on Crimea: "This is occupied Ukrainian territory, which is now in Russia."
The interview and subsequent resignation caused significant public discontent. Thus, the country's cultural community threatened protests and warned of an erosion of democratic values, Bloomberg notes in its material. Around 150 cultural organisations, ranging from museums to film and writers' associations, have joined the protest movement. They say the populist "Dawn of the Neman" poses a serious threat to democratic values and could become a risk to freedom of speech in the Baltic country. In addition, one of the country's leading festivals has declared President Nauseda, who ultimately approved the appointment of the culture minister, persona non grata. Both Nauseda and Prime Minister Ruginiene have held meetings with cultural representatives in an attempt to defuse the growing tension. Despite the minister's resignation, the community has signalled that it will not back down. Activists have said they will continue the protests until they receive a final promise that "Dawn of the Neman" will have no control over the culture ministry.
"Dawn of the Neman" was quick to announce that it would find a successor to Adomavičius, since under the coalition agreement the Ministry of Culture belongs to it. The party's deputy chairman, Robert Puhovich, ruled out the possibility of "Dawn" transferring the portfolio of the Minister of Culture to the coalition partners from the Social Democratic Party or the Union of Farmers and Greens. At the same time, Puhovich denied that the minister had resigned because of the statements on Ukraine, but because of "enormous pressure" and "personal attacks".
Thousands of people, not only representatives of the cultural community, took to the streets of Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities yesterday to protest against the government's decision to hand over control of the Ministry of Culture to the populist party "Dawn of the Neman", "Euronews" reported. Protesters across the country called for the protection of culture, democracy and freedom of speech. A manifesto titled "This might be the last time" was also read during the demonstration, stating that "perhaps for the last time culture will remain our common language".
Žemaitaitis criticized the protesters, calling them "vaggots" in a post on "Facebook". "People of culture came to an uncultured rally! Can culture and art be created only by shouting?", he said, adding that "true artists continue to create art, while vagrants and people who have nothing to do with culture simply shout".
The Polish television channel Te Fau Pe widely covered the protest in the neighboring country, describing it as a "warning" from the cultural community. The organizers said they plan to take further action if the government does not reverse its decision to leave the ministry under the control of "Dawn of the Neman", turning the institution into a "pawn in political negotiations".