Monika Navickiene, who is stepping down as Lithuania’s social security and labor minister, said on Thursday that her flight to Dubai more than a year ago with Vilhelmas Germanas, who has in the past been convicted of financial crimes, was a mistake.
“At the time I made that decision, it seemed to me like a private matter that posed no risk and was unrelated to my current responsibilities,” Navickiene told journalists. “I’m convinced that I didn’t violate public interest, but I admit I made a human mistake.”
“I made an extremely difficult decision, but I’m sure the right one, to step down from my duties. Why? First of all, because recent events have created immense emotional stress for my loved ones, my daughters, my mother and the people I have worked with for the past four years,” she said.
The 15min online news site on Wednesday reported about the minister’s flight to Dubai on a private plane together with Ieva Trinkunaite, the owner of the financial technology company Foxpay, and her partner Germanas.
The man worked at Litlab, a company owned by Mindaugas Navickas, the minister’s husband, for some time last year.
The outgoing minister said she does not think that her family’s ties with Germanas make her vulnerable.
Navickiene said that she wants to remain a member of the ruling conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD), adding that her future as a politician will also depend on the voters.
“The public will decide, you will decide, the people who will evaluate this whole matter will decide. I can’t judge it myself,” she told journalists.
Source: BNS
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