President downplays frictions in ruling bloc

The president also downplayed the frictions within the ruling coalition, saying that the line-up of the ruling majority would be visible in fall. In her words, the decision-making is the most important thing.

“I will sign the amendments to the Law on Forests, and I am critical of the (adoption) process. I believe the entire spring session is a lesson for the ruling majority that the time has come to shift from arrogant bulldozer-type policies to political processes and being politicians,” Grybauskaitė told journalists in Vilnius on Thursday.

Asked to comment on the situation in the ruling coalition, the president replied: “The important thing is that the ruling majority, regardless of what it is, should be able to pass decisions and laws, and time will show the company we have in fall, what matters to me is that the necessary decisions are made.”

Frictions within the coalition heightened after the ruling Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LFGU) failed to secure support of their coalition partners, the Social Democrats, for the forestry reform and signed an agreement with the opposition conservatives, which stipulated their support to the amendments to the Law on Forests in return for a lower VAT tariff for heating. The Social Democrats dismissed the deal as “going beyond the coalition agreement” and “influence peddling”, pledging to reconsider their future in the ruling bloc.