«According to the president, specific cases of expenses by members of the Seimas related to parliamentary activities, and the procedure for reimbursing these expenses from the state budget should be clarified by the members of the Seimas themselves. When deciding on the issue of changing the existing procedure, the system as a whole should be considered, not individual individuals,» the president’s press service commented to the Elta agency.
This position of the Office of the President is much softer than the one expressed on the issue of transparency in the use of funds allocated for the activities of a municipal council member by the Minister of Finance, Gintarė Škėstytė, Minister of Culture, and the then Minister of Education, Science and Sports, Jurgita Šiugždinienė. At that time, the head of state stated that he no longer saw a possibility for ministers to continue their work in the government.
Meanwhile, even the Chief Commission for Ethics in Public Service (GCESA) in late January ruled that President G. Nausėda violated the law on the coordination of public and private interests. The commission’s conclusion stated that the President’s visit to «The Phantom of the Opera» musical, along with the Lithuanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, was of a private nature and it was paid for using embassy funds.