Politics Lithuania's head of government announces his resignation
Lithuania's head of government Gintautas Paluckas wants to resign following allegations of conflicts of interest and nepotism. "I have made the decision to resign from the office of Prime Minister", Paluckas announced in a statement.
31.07.2025, 12:43
SDA
The Social Democrat intends to submit his official resignation to President Gitanas Nauseda shortly. The head of state of the Baltic EU and NATO country had previously announced that Paluckas had called him and informed him of this step.
Serious accusations against Prime Minister Paluckas
Paluckas has recently come under fire due to increasing accusations of dubious business dealings and calls for his resignation - including from one of the two coalition partners in his center-left government.
Investigations are underway in Lithuania into previous and current business dealings and transactions of the 45-year-old head of government, who has so far denied any conflicts of interest and rejected the accusations as deliberate attacks by political opponents.
In connection with a recently uncovered case, Lithuanian media reported on Thursday that the authorities had searched a company owned by Paluckas' sister-in-law. The latter is said to have used EU subsidies to purchase electric batteries from a company 49 percent owned by Paluckas - during his term of office as Prime Minister.
Ultimatum from President Nauseda
In his statement, Paluckas emphasized that he did not believe he had made any fundamental mistakes during his time in office. However, he did not want to hold the government and its work hostage to the "fueled scandals", he said, explaining his decision to resign from his post. Paluckas, who also resigned as party leader of the Social Democrats, had been head of government in Lithuania since November 2024.
Nauseda, who described the resignation as the "right decision", had recently increased the pressure on the head of government. The head of state had given him two weeks to respond to growing public concerns or to reconsider his decision to remain in office. Paluckas therefore took a 14-day vacation at the beginning of the week.
