The Lithuanian Prime Minister resigns in the midst of corruption investigations

Lithuanian Prime Minister GintaUtas Paluckas resigned Thursday following demonstrations in the country’s capital to investigate his alleged commercial transactions.

“GintaUtas Paluckas called me this morning and informed me of his resignation,” said Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda Lithuanian national radio and television (TLR). Nausėda also said that Paluckas had made the right choice and praised the decision.

Nausėda recently gave Paluckas for two weeks to decide whether or not to stay in his position.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda on July 24, 2025, gave Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas two weeks to decide if he would resign. (INTS Kalnins / Mike Segar / Reuters)

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“The President asked the Prime Minister to give a reasoned answer to the questions raised by the public in the next two weeks, or to seriously consider his other options as Prime Minister,” said presidential advisor Frederikas Jansonas on July 24, according to LRT.

The Prime Minister’s resignation also comes after a small party has threatened to leave the country’s power coalition unless Paluckas withdraws from his post.

After the media began to publish investigations into the commercial and financial relations of Paluckas, the anti-corruption organizations and the law enforcement for Lithuania launched their own probes The Associated Press. One of the business against him has more than a decade.

The newly elected Prime Minister of Lithuania GintaUtas Paluckas, speaks to the Parliament’s media in Vilnius, Lithuania, November 21, 2024. (AP photo / Mindaugas Kulbis, file)

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In 2012, Paluckas was found guilty of having poorly managed the tender process for the extermination of rats in Vilnius, where he was director of the city’s municipality, reported the Associated Press. However, it was revealed that he had not paid a piece of the fine of almost $ 20,000.

A more recent scandal involved a subsidized loan of € 200,000 ($ 228,777) that garnished, a company that Paluckas co-founded, received after Paluckas was already as Prime Minister, according to LRT. The point of sale added that the official ethics committee of Lithuania investigates the loan.

Garnis was also linked to a more recent scandal involving the Prime Minister in which Dankora – Paluckas’ sister -in -law company – received funding from the EU and used it to buy garnish goods. However, according to LRT, the public outcry pushed Dankora to return the funds.

The new Lithuanian Prime Minister GintaUtas Paluckas attended a session of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, in Vilnius on December 12, 2024. (Petras Malukas / AFP via Getty Images)

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Paluckas denies any reprehensible act and affirms that criticism is part of a “coordinated attack” by its political opponents, according to the Associated Press.

The resignation of the Prime Minister puts Lithuania in a precarious position, because it comes just before Russia and Bélarus hold joint military exercises. According to the Associated Press, however, this may not have an impact on Lithuania’s foreign policy, because Nausėda, which represents the country on a global scale, was an ardent supporter of Ukraine during his war with Russia.