Более 20 неправительственных организаций обратились к президенту Гитанасу Науседе с просьбой не назначать председателя парламентского Комитета по национальной безопасности и обороне (КНБО) Лауринаса Кащюнаса министром обороны. По мнению авторов обращения, ценности этого политика противоречат правам человека.
«Candidates for the presidency who support the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and the Partnership Law should not nominate Laurinas Kasciunas for one of the most important state positions, especially at this time,» emphasized Sandra Adomaviciute, director of the Open Foundation, in her statement.
According to non-governmental organizations, Kasciunas’ activities promote radical ideas that are directed against national minorities, civil society, and migrants.
«Extreme views of the politician are reflected in his (L. Kasciunas — ELTA) biography. (…) His appointment as a minister would mean the normalization of such views and ideas,» said one of the authors of the appeal, Dr. Karolis Dambrauskas, a social scientist.
«Laurinas Kasciunas was one of the initiators of the policy of turning away, as a result of which an unknown number of migrants died or suffered irreversibly on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border,» the statement said.
The authors of the appeal also stressed that the appointment of Kasciunas as Minister of Defense poses a threat in the face of war. According to them, the conservative’s past would be beneficial to hostile states.