Russia attempted to regain influence over former KGB agents in Lithuania, MP says

In his words, testimonies of employees of the State Security Department suggest that there have been attempts to contact former KGB collaborators.

“The Lustration Law envisages a duty to defend them against blackmailing, recruitment and other types of influence. Employees of the State Security Department have also assured that there have been repeated attempts to recruit them back and influence them,” Paulauskas told BNS.

He said the Russian security was the most likely institution behind the attempts.

Paulauskas noted that the number of reported cases “was not one or two”. “People approached the State Security Department and said there had been a contact, and it is up to the department to decide. But the fact is that there have been attempts and that the attempts have been reported,” said Paulauskas.

Recently, the political council of the ruling coalition considered the possibility to publish the lists of people who had come forward with their earlier collaboration with the Soviet security. Approval was then reportedly received to publishing the names, but the ruling coalition later decided to reconsider the issue after learning that secrecy had been guaranteed to those who had confessed.

Some 1,589 people have voluntarily admitted having collaborated with the Soviet Union’s secret services. KGB documents imply that about 118,000 individuals secretly collaborated with the KGB between 1940 and 1991.