VILNIUS - A special parliamentary commission opened an examination this week to look into the circumstances surrounding three major Lithuanian officials who enlisted in the KGB's reserve officer corps during the Soviet period.
The commission is expected to dispel doubts as to whether the continued presence of Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis, State Security Department director General Arvydas Pocius and Deputy Parliamentary Chairman Alfredas Pekeliunas in their current posts violates existing legal acts and "does not pose a threat to national security."
The panel will also determine whether there are any other politicians, judges or state officials who were in the KGB reserve yet have not acknowledged it.
The conclusion is expected within a month.
Some MPs have urged Valionis and Pocius to resign immediately, arguing that they have tarnished Lithuania's image. In response, the foreign minister has asserted that he would step down if a certain "political situation" arose but has not yet made such a decision.
"I am not thinking about resigning. But if there was a political situation, I would do this without hesitation. If my presence in the position posed any threat to the country's foreign policy, this would be a rather serious reason," he said.
Representatives of the right-wing Homeland Union, currently in the opposition, have argued that Valionis could face difficulties performing his duties now that details about his past have been made public.
"Apparently I learned to say a strict 'no' only later on. I was young then, lacked experience and courage," the foreign minister said in explanation as to why he agreed to enlist in the KGB reserve in 1981 at the age of 31. At the time he was also a Communist Party instructor.
President Valdas Adamkus, however, said he had no doubts about Valionis and Pocius' loyalty to Lithuania. Parliamentary Chairman Arturas Paulauskas also stepped in to defend the two officials.
In a long defense of the two officials, Paulauskas said, "Let's say a person was enlisted in the KGB reserve in the '80s, and in 1990 the individual finds out what is happening in Lithuania. We should not forget that the information about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was first published in 1988 only. One could not find that information in a textbook, nor was it mentioned during history class. Those people heard lots of things for the first time. Is it possible that they have reassessed their values and have changed? Could it be that they found a new determination 's together with an independent Lithuania? I think this is what the two individuals had decided."
Although state law does not stipulate enlistment in the KGB reserve as "secret and conscious collaboration" with the Soviet Union's secret services, many analysts question if top officials have a moral right to remain in their position and wonder how this would affect Lithuania's image.
"Are there any grounds for judging them? Apparently there are," said Lietuvos Rytas journalist Ramune Sotvariene. "But if we condemn an individual who in reality has not done anything wrong, then we should not forget consistency and condemn nearly everybody. Some 's for immigrating and creating new lives in the West. Others, for having remained and adapted, and for having patiently taught their children how to survive in the communist 'paradise.' More shocking than this fact is that two previously honorable officials did not have the guts to confess publicly."
Historians have said there were some 420 people listed in the KGB reserve in 1990, but some cases have been taken from the archives, the Baltic News Service reported.
