Bruveris to Nausėda: This Is Not Presidential Conduct

Vytautas Bruveris says Gitanas Nausėda is speaking and acting below the level expected of Lithuania’s president. “Your Excellency, this is not presidential conduct,” the commentator said while discussing the president’s remarks in recent days.

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Your Excellency, this is not presidential conduct.

Bruveris argued that Nausėda appears unable to control some of his emotions, including resentment and the desire to retaliate. In his view, the wish to “bite back” matters more to the president than his office and status.

He connected the current dispute to events in 2020, when Vilnius hosted a conference of the Liublino Four. Bruveris said he, Rita Miliūtė and Rimvydas Valatka were among the organizers but were later told they were not wanted as speakers or moderators. The journalists publicly disclosed what had happened, prompting considerable controversy.

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I, as a private person, can slap around whatever I want.

Bruveris said he initially suspected that presidential advisers or staff had made the decision without Nausėda’s knowledge. He later heard the president explain the matter in an interview with journalist and public figure Edmundas Jakilaitis on the program “Delfi dėmesio centre.”

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Let us separate two things. One thing is accredited journalists.

Nausėda distinguished between accredited journalists and event moderators. He said the three journalists had the right to visit the presidency, ask questions and provide commentary, but that the presidency hosted its own events and could decide who moderated them. He compared the decision to choosing which guests to invite to a private birthday party. Bruveris called that explanation another example of conduct unworthy of a president. The wider weekly program “Jūs rimtai?” also discussed singer Jessica Shy and the continuing cleanup after a storm.

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You might say: wait, but perhaps I imagine different people or guests.