Cultural seasons cannot be organized without money, Lithuanian cultmin retorts

VILNIUS - Lithuania’s Culture Minister Sarunas Birutis, a Social Democrat, says he sees himself in the new government, but admits he will not be upset if he does not receive an offer to continue his work.

Responding to President Gitanas Nauseda's criticism of his lack of leadership, he retorted that funds must be allocated in order for culture not to be neglected.

"People often want culture not to be the last (thing on the list) without allocating funds for this field. This is the biggest problem, and it has always been so," Birutis told reporters in the Seimas on Tuesday.

"The salaries of cultural workers are indeed a big problem. Seasons abroad cannot be organized without money. The season in France cost over 5 million euros, and now seasons are planned in Italy and especially Germany, but so far no money has been allocated for these seasons. And this does not depend on the culture minister," he pointed out.

According to the minister, he and his political team are making great efforts to ensure that the work is done, "but such things cannot be done without money".

"In order for culture not to be neglected, it needs attention, especially when it comes to finances," he stressed.

Birutis vowed to do everything in his power to ensure that culture is not left behind in the new government's program.

He claimed that he would not be too upset if he lost his ministerial post, as he was a member of parliament elected in a single-member constituency, so he would still have enough work to do.

On the other hand, the politician acknowledged that he would like to continue working at the Culture Ministry.

"I see myself (in the new government) because a lot of work has been started, ambitious work, and it is related to ensuring that culture is not the last priority, it is about society's resilience to disinformation, about (cultural) heritage issues, about the salaries of cultural workers," Birutis said.

Nauseda questioned the current culture minister's possibility to continue his work in an interview with the Ziniu Radijas news radio earlier on Tuesday.

The country's leader stated that he saw Birutis’ responsibility for the fact that culture still "ranks last" and said he had expected the minister to be more active and to have a clear vision for the organization of future Lithuanian cultural seasons.

"It (the Culture Ministry) should not be pushed, but should come up with ideas and implement them itself. This has not been the case, and I believe that we will have to take all this into account when forming the new government," the president said.

The new government is being formed following Gintautas Paluckas’ resignation as prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party.

The composition of the ruling majority has also changed.

The new coalition is made up of the parliamentary political groups of the Social Democrats, the Nemunas Dawn party, and the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union together with the Christian Families Alliance.

The new ruling majority will have 82 out of 141 seats in the parliament.