Lithuania braces itself as ranks of KGB reservists swell

  • 2005-02-09
  • By Milda Seputyte
VILNIUS - At least another 10 government officials with KGB affiliation have cropped up in what's becoming an increasingly large group of those who, at one time, were part of the security apparatus' reserve list in Lithuania.

Arvydas Anusauskas, a historian specializing in KGB operations, presented a special commission with a dozen new names of ex-reserve KGB officers who currently hold public positions. According to unofficial information, the document includes current MPs, judges, district governors and a former deputy minister.

Commission members, including MPs and historians, have been meeting for two weeks now behind closed doors and were reluctant to reveal exactly how many names were on the list.

What's more, there are fears that the list is likely to grow.

The commission originally met to determine whether three former KGB reservists 's Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis, State Security Departmnet Director General Arvydas Pocius and Deputy Parliamentary Chairman Alfredas Pekeliunas 's could maintain their current posts without threatening national security.

The state law outlining the definition of KGB collaboration does not address enlistment in the Soviet spy agency's reserve, as such status was unavailable to the public until the beginning of this year.

Given this oversight, the panel must conclude whether officials have the moral right to keep their positions, and whether the law requires amendments.

Panel members are struggling to determine whether being a KGB reserve office amounted to collaboration.

Should it be treated as collaboration, a number of Lithuanian parliamentarians and state officials could lose their posts.

"I still can't tell if the reservist deliberately collaborated with the KGB, for that, we need further investigation. We guess it could be qualified as collaboration but the opinion isn't final," Skirmantas Pabedinskas, chairman of the parliamentary ad hoc probe commission, said.

He added that some of the KGB reservists who were aware of their enlistment should have informed society about this biographical fact before seeking an MP mandate. "If we find some documents with their signatures confirming agreements, we will consider that as deliberate collaboration," Pabedinskas said.

Anusauskas told journalists that enlistment should be regarded as KGB collaboration, since people were required to approve of the enlistment before their name could be written down on the lists.

"It was simply impossible to appear in the reserve in a different way. If a person disagreed, his service was no longer needed," the historian said. During his research, Anusauskas discovered that 10 percent of potential reservists disagreed to sign up for the KGB reserve during the last recruitment in 1990.

Most of the former reservists said that participation granted one the possibility of escaping service in the Soviet military, which during the '80s could have resulted in a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Experts analyzing KGB operations in Lithuania maintain that some 420 Lithuanian residents were involved in the KGB reserve, although documents for some 100 cases are lost. The commission has also been requested to conclude if former KGB reservists threaten national security under their posts.

The opposition is using the scandal and overall uncertainty to ratchet up the heat on the ruling coalition, which began working in November. The Conservatives (Homeland Union) called for opening up the so-called special archives that contain files related to the Soviet Union's special services.

"We need some very serious surgical treatment in this regard, and the way I see it, the only way to administer such treatment is to completely disclose the archive. Without such treatment, the problems can hardly be solved," said Rasa Jukneviciene, Conservative faction leader.

Without full transparency, similar scandals are bound to be repeated in the future, said others. "The potential threat exists, but it has to be studied individually each time," said Conservative Rimantas Dagys, deputy chairman of the special parliamentary commission.

Parliamentary Chairman Arturas Paulauskas also called for immediately publicizing all present information about the KGB reserve. "The question has to be solved once and for all. If not, we'll receive a similar dose of new names each time, the scandal will continue for a few months, and would shadow all the works being done in the country, not only the Seimas [Lithuania's parliament]," he said.

Meanwhile, Valionis is under pressure to resign from the opposition. On Feb. 7 he issued a statement reminding that he had never denied his enlistment in the KGB reserve. "The truth is that I was listed as a KGB reservist earlier than I was informed about this," he said, adding that he was informed about the enlistment in 1980.

He also noted he had neither received nor performed any KGB assignments. "I have informed the State Security Department of the Republic of Lithuania and state officials about this. I have presented these facts in writing to the Seimas commission, and I am ready to answer all questions related with the facts and circumstances examined by the commission," Valionis said.

The commission examining the circumstances of enlistment of high-ranking officials in the KGB reserve in the Soviet era is due to finish its work by Feb. 28.

Meanwhile, President Valdas Adamkus came under fire for taking a vacation in Mexico at a time when the country was engulfed in crisis, accusations he rejected. "I do not think the situation has changed in any way from what it was. I have maintained daily contacts with the government's representatives, I was provided with work and was able to speak my mind, and I do not think I would have done anything differently if I had been at my office on Daukantas Square," he told reporters Feb. 8.