4 days ago
Lithuania's president taps social democrat MP for PM after corruption shake-up
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda on Thursday nominated social democrat MP Inga Ruginiene as prime minister, after former government chief Gintautas Paluckas resigned amid an ongoing corruption investigation.
"There are certain details in Ms Ruginiene's biography that require closer attention. That is why our first meeting lasted two hours, which is quite unusually long," Nauseda told the country's public broadcaster LRT following his meeting with the nominee.
Ruginiene has previously come under criticism for having relatives in Russia, whom she last visited in 2015 and 2018.
Ruginiene told reporters that she no longer visits them, adding that she had always supported Ukraine against Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of its western neighbour in 2022.
The parliament still has to approve Ruginiene as well as her new programme and cabinet. Paluckas's government resigned last week.
The Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) has held consultations with other parties after one of their coalition partners, the centre-left Democrats "For Lithuania", said they could no longer work together with the populist Nemunas Dawn party that is also part of the government.
The financial crimes watchdog (FNTT) arrested Paluckas's brother on Thursday and detained four other individuals as part of a probe into businesses linked to the former prime minister.
No charges have yet been brought against Paluckas.
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