At the meeting, they discussed foreign policy priorities and the president stated that the key task is to enhance Lithuania’s security by diplomatic means, his chief adviser Frederikas Jansonas said in the media briefing at the Presidential Palace.
Jansonas stated that the foreign minister would have to take on two major tasks. First, strive to restrain and deter Russia, and, second, to continue Lithuania’s support for Ukraine.
The adviser noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would also have to focus on relations with the new US administration and Lithuania’s future Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
It is rumoured that Budrys’ candidacy was suggested by the Office of the President rather than by Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas. President’s adviser Jansonas stated that Budrys was one of a number of candidates, but avoided answering whose idea it was to nominate him.
Moreover, former parliament speaker, leader of the Liberal Movement Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, reminded about the "cooldown period", a break before officials may be appointed from one branch of the government to another as insisted by President Gitanas Nausėda in the past. In 2021, the president refused to appoint former ministers Linas Linkevičius and Raimundas Karoblis as ambassadors claiming that more time had to pass after they left positions in the Government and that the diplomatic service should be depoliticised.
"Both the president and the Government, based on the Lithuanian Constitution, are representatives of the executive branch. So in this case the appointment of the president’s adviser to a different political position is completely natural," Jansonas told reporters Friday.
He claimed that the previous ruling coalition tried to separate the president from the Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs all four years.
Meanwhile, Budrys told reporters that he had learned from rumours that he might be considered as the next foreign minister. He said he had also talked about this with prime minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas. However, he did not answer if his candidacy was first discussed with the president or the prime minister.
Budrys became the president’s chief adviser on national security on 17 February 2022, before that he worked at the State Security Department (VSAT).