Bastys impeachment panel asks for extension of work until June 1

“The commission’s operations will be extended for a few more weeks. We hope that the parliament next week passes the resolution to extend it until June 1,” the commission’s leader, Agne Sirinskiene of the ruling Farmers and Greens Union, told journalists after the panel’s meeting on Friday

The commission was originally scheduled to announce its conclusions by May 15 as to whether there are grounds for opening impeachment proceedings against Bastys over relations with persons working for Russia.

Bastys faces impeachment due to the ties, as specified in materials from the State Security Department, to Yevgeny Kostin, who is seen as a representative of Rosatom, Piotr Voyeiko, a former KGB agent, Ernest Matskevich, a journalist of the Russian state channel RTR, Saturnas Dubininkas, who is said to be a former Kaunas mafia leader, and Vadim Pakhomov, a businessman suspected of illegal activity.

Bastys denies all accusations, emphasizing he had not breached his oath as an MP.