Lithuania Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas has stepped down following investigations into his business dealings that prompted protests in the Baltic country’s capital calling for his resignation.
The country’s President Gitanas Nausėda announced Paluckas’ resignation to the media on Thursday morning.
Paluckas confirmed the news in a statement sent by his Social Democrat Party.
Paluckas ascended to the role late last year after a three-party coalition formed following parliamentary elections in October.
His resignation is now likely to bring down the whole government, with his cabinet expected to also resign. New coalition talks are expected to start soon.
Paluckas has faced scandals over his business dealings, including some that occurred more than a decade ago. Media investigations revealed that he had never paid a significant part of a 16,500 euro ($19,000) fine after he was convicted in 2012 of mishandling the bidding process for the capital Vilnius’s rat extermination services.
Paluckas at the time was the Vilnius’s municipal administration director, and judges ruled that he had abused his official position by illegally granting privileges to whichever company offered the highest bid.
At the time he was sentenced to a two years in prison, but he was ultimately never imprisoned.
Since the media investigations Lithuania’s anti-corruptin and law enforcement agencies have also launched their own probes into Paluckas.
He has denied doing anything wrong, and instead has called the attacks on his business dealings parts of a “coordinated attack” by political opponents.
The resignation of the prime minister comes only weeks ahead of a planned joint military exercise between its neighbours, Russia and Belarus, highlighting the precarious position Lithuania finds itself in.
In May Lithuania initiated legal proceedings against Belarus at the International Court of Justice, after it accused the latter of being behind a wave of “illegal migration” into the country.
Lithuania is a member of NATO and was formerly part of the Soviet Union, becoming the first republic to declare independence in 1990, ahead of the world power’s collapse the following year.
Nauseda, Lithuania’s president, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, and the Baltic country has long been fearful of Russian expansionism.
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