Lithuanian PM says 'there's definitely no fifth column' in parliament

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas does not believe there is a "fifth column" in the parliament.

"There's definitely no fifth column in the Seimas, and there isn't a single member of the Seimas working for the intelligence services of hostile countries or any other state," Paluckas told reporters on Thursday.

He was commenting on a remark by Saulius Skvernelis, the speaker of the Seimas, that "a certain fifth column is forming" in the parliament.

"I view such statements more as competitive friction than reality," the prime minister said.

Skvernelis clarified that when he spoke about "a certain fifth column," he was not necessarily referring to the MPs who did not support a 12-month extension of national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens.

The government's proposal to extend national sanctions against Russian and Belarusian citizens for another year passed its first reading in the Seimas last week.

The majority of Nemunas Dawn's MPs, including their leader Remigijus Zemaitaitis, did not back the proposal.

Most members of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union and the Christian Families Alliance political group in the Seimas did not support the extension either. In response, the Farmers and Greens' board said on Saturday that it opposed the decision and instructed the party's MPs to back the draft amendment in the future.

The Nemunas Dawn MPs say they opposed extending the sanctions due to a provision in the law that bans the import of agricultural products and animal feed from Russia or Belarus to Lithuania.

Zemaitaitis accused Skvernelis, the leader of the Democrats "For Lithuania", Nemunas Dawn's coalition partner, of "whining on (TV) screens".

"Instead of getting to work, all I hear is whining: about fifth columns, some secret meetings, not voting for taxes, and other things," the Nemunas Dawn leader told reporters on Thursday.

"I see that we are now left alone in this field, and it seems all political responsibility is now with two political parties - Nemunas Dawn and the Social Democrats," he added.

The law imposing restrictive measures in response to military aggression against Ukraine was first passed in Lithuania in 2023. It aims to show support for Ukraine and restrict certain rights of citizens from the aggressor countries - Russia and Belarus.

Social Democrat Juozas Olekas, the first deputy speaker of the Seimas, has said that support for Ukraine is part of the ruling coalition agreement, so the failure to back sanctions raises questions about whether coalition partners are fulfilling their commitments.

Paluckas believes that not supporting the extension was a mistake and expects his coalition partners to correct it.

"I think that the failure to vote in favor of extending the sanctions during the first reading was a mistake, which my fellow coalition partners will have the chance to fix during the adoption stage," the prime minister said.

The sanctions were updated and extended last year. The government is proposing to extend the law, which is set to expire on May 3, 2025, by one year, until May 2, 2026.

The law suspends the acceptance of applications for Schengen and national visas from Russian and Belarusian citizens, introduces more thorough border checks, and bars Russian citizens from purchasing real estate in Lithuania, among other measures.