Lithuania - April 2024

On 18 April, Parliament passed amendments to the law on the legal status of victims of the occupations between 1939-1990. According to the law, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center, under the oversight of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, is responsible for issuing legal status certificates to people repressed for political reasons, political prisoners, exiles and people displaced under the occupation regimes of Nazi Germany and later the Soviet Union. The amendments expand the grounds for the families of former political prisoners and exiles to be recognized as victims of the occupation, making around 400 additional people eligible to receive state support, including an additional state pension for victims on top of their regular social insurance pension.  

Sources: Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas, Jurbarkas, Teises Aktu Registras, LRT, Ministry of Social Security and Labour

Parliament voted to approve the findings of a temporary parliamentary inquiry commission, which determined the State Security Department (VSD) aided the 2019 election campaign of President Gitanas Nausėda by gathering intelligence on Nausėda’s team members, election staff and supporters. The findings were approved with 64 votes in favour and 44 against. The commission was established in October 2023 to investigate a whistleblower report by a former VSD employee. The inquiry further found Nausėda obstructed the Parliament from carrying out its functions by refusing to testify and found state authorities, including the VSD and the General Prosecutor’s Office, failed to adequately protect the whistleblower’s identity. Nausėda has said that the parliamentary inquiry was designed to discredit him ahead of the May Presidential elections. The report contains proposals for election financing and the protection of whistleblowers’ rights.

Sources: Delfi (1), Delfi (2), Delfi (3), Seimas (1), Seimas (2), LRT (1), LRT (2)