Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda appointed Laurynas Kasčiūnas, a 42-year-old MP of the conservative Homeland Union party, to the post of minister of defense on Monday.
Prior to his appointment being confirmed by Nausėda, Kasčiūnas said his main priorities as defense minister would be to implement the principle of universal defense of the homeland the conscription reform, the agreement on additional defense funding, and developing Lithuania’s military drone program.
Kasčiūnas also mentioned making preparations for Lithuania to host a German brigade that would boost the country’s defense capabilities.
Kasčiūnas’s nomination was presented to the president by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė last week after the previous minister of defense, Arvydas Anušauskas, resigned at her request. According to the PM, this was motivated by Anušauskas not having been sufficiently active in pushing through “key defense policies such as the conscription reform, the search for additional defense funding sources, and the expansion of the active military reserve,” according to LRT, Lithuania’s national broadcaster.
Who is the new lithuanian Defense Minister?
Laurynas Kasčiūnas studied at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, where he received his B.A. (2004) and M.A. (2006), and earned his Ph.D. in social sciences in 2012.
Since 2004 he worked as an analyst at various research centers, focusing on the topics of national security and foreign policy. In 2007 he became a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University. Since 2012 he worked at the Eastern Europe Studies Centre, where he served as director in 2015-2016. Since 2009, he has been an adviser to Irena Degutienė, the speaker of Lithuania’s unicameral parliament (Seimas) on foreign policy issues. He also worked on the foreign editorial board of the Veidas weekly.
Kasčiūnas, who has been an MP of the right-wing conservative Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats since 2016 has so far been chairing the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense.
Some Lithuanian NGOs have criticized his nomination for what they perceived as far-right views and his stance on human rights. Lithuanian groups working to support Ukraine have, however, expressed their backing for Kasčiūnas.
Kasčiūnas also mentioned making preparations for Lithuania to host a German brigade that would boost the country’s defense capabilities.
Kasčiūnas’s nomination was presented to the president by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė last week after the previous minister of defense, Arvydas Anušauskas, resigned at her request. According to the PM, this was motivated by Anušauskas not having been sufficiently active in pushing through “key defense policies such as the conscription reform, the search for additional defense funding sources, and the expansion of the active military reserve,” according to LRT, Lithuania’s national broadcaster.
Who is the new lithuanian Defense Minister?
Laurynas Kasčiūnas studied at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University, where he received his B.A. (2004) and M.A. (2006), and earned his Ph.D. in social sciences in 2012.
Since 2004 he worked as an analyst at various research centers, focusing on the topics of national security and foreign policy. In 2007 he became a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University. Since 2012 he worked at the Eastern Europe Studies Centre, where he served as director in 2015-2016. Since 2009, he has been an adviser to Irena Degutienė, the speaker of Lithuania’s unicameral parliament (Seimas) on foreign policy issues. He also worked on the foreign editorial board of the Veidas weekly.
Kasčiūnas, who has been an MP of the right-wing conservative Homeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats since 2016 has so far been chairing the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense.
Some Lithuanian NGOs have criticized his nomination for what they perceived as far-right views and his stance on human rights. Lithuanian groups working to support Ukraine have, however, expressed their backing for Kasčiūnas.
Source: LRT, TVP World
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