Lithuanian PM criticises airport board appointment over alleged Russia, Belarus ties

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius on Friday called the appointment of independent board member Oleksandras Laneckis to state-owned Lithuanian Airports "unpleasant", after activists and politicians raised concerns over his alleged past ties to Russia and Belarus.

However, Sinkevicius said he did not hold Transport Minister Juras Taminskas responsible for the situation.

"As I understand it, the member himself has resigned, and the matter is effectively closed. But let us look at the entire board appointment process. There are selection committees. It is not as if the minister himself collects CVs and makes a choice. If that were the case, we could raise questions. But there are recruitment agencies and numerous people who evaluate qualifications and compliance, and something may have failed here. It appears that the candidate profiles did not reveal what individual public figures later managed to identify," the prime minister told reporters on Friday.

"It is an unpleasant case; I hope it will not be repeated and that we will look more responsibly at board member selections in the future," Sinkevicius added.

On Thursday, Taminskas removed Laneckis from the new Lithuanian Airports board at his own request. Laneckis said that while he disagreed with the issues raised publicly, he did not wish to hinder the operations of Lithuanian Airports.

Taminskas had previously asked the State Security Department to urgently conduct an additional security clearance assessment for Laneckis. The minister said he was unaware of the circumstances regarding Laneckis's activities that had been disclosed publicly.

The opposition Conservatives had questioned whether Laneckis's role on the Lithuanian Airports board was aligned with Lithuania's national security interests. According to the opposition, Laneckis continues to give interviews and commentary to pro-Russian media and publishes articles on how to bypass Western sanctions.

Laneckis was intended to be responsible for strategic planning and aviation on the Lithuanian Airports board.