Political Risk:
Low
Score:
76/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
92/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Parliament passes laws, considers the Government’s programme regarding certain defence issues [1], approves the State Budget and supervises its execution, and adopts decisions to…
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The Defence Committee, which is a part of the Parliament, meets three to five times a month. Its agenda, reports, legal acts and other…
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The Defence Committee consists of 11 members of Parliament from different parties. No evidence of undue (not even perceived) influence is demonstrated through open…
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Q2
83/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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There is a Defence committee in the Parliament which consists of eleven members of different parties and they all have access to classified information.…
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Based on biographies published on the Parliament’s website, approximately half of the Defence Committee members (six out of eleven) had previous experience in fields…
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The Seimas (unicameral parliament of Lithuania) is responsible for decisions regarding the use of force, mobilisation, and participation in international military operations. Parliament also…
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The Committee meets no less than once a week during the Parliamentary sessions which, according to the Constitution, are held in Spring (from the…
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The Committee may conduct long-term parliamentary investigations, and has done so in the past [1]. For example, in October 2017, the Parliament decided to…
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In general, ministries seem to incorporate the Committee’s recommendations into practice. However, it is unclear how often and to what extent this really happens.…
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Q3
44/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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‘The main issues of national defence are considered and co-ordinated by the State Defence Council, which consists of the President of the Republic, the…
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Legally, the State Defence Council is supposed to meet once a month, although there is no set agenda in practice [1]. In 2018, the…
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The Law on Public Administration oversees formal consultations for entities within public administration [1]. These entities must consult on administrative decisions related to general…
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The public can access information and documents regarding defence policy and security strategy once these are made official and if they do not include…
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Q4
92/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is a policy issued by the Ministry of Defence which confirms its collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), who directly contribute to the…
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There are over 2000 CSOs in Lithuania and they operate under the ‘Law on NGOs’ [1]. These officers have the rights to freedom of…
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The Defence Military has listed on its website a list of NGOs with which the Ministry of Defence is collaborating. Their main details and…
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Q5
100/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Lithuania has signed and ratified both the UNCAC Convention and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business [1,2].…
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Lithuania has complied with most of its obligations. With regards to the OECD Convention on Foreign Bribery, there have recently been several legislative amendments,…
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Q6
100/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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There are active public debates within academia, think tanks, NGOs and politicians. The main focus of these discussions evolve around increasing the defence budget,…
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There are active public debates within academia, think tanks, NGOs and politicians. The main focus of these discussions evolve around increasing the defence budget,…
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Q7
88/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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There is an openly stated anti-corruption policy explicit to the defence sector [1]. There is also a plan on how to implement the program…
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The action plan at the ministry level reflects the institutional weaknesses in the system, and implementation has progressed according to the estimated timeline. The…
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Q8
75/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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In 2017 the Ministry of Defence approved the National Security System for 2017-2021 with an anti-corruption program and an extensive program-implementation plan. The main…
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The General Inspector (GI), who is directly responsible for implementing the anti-corruption program within Ministry of Defence, is part of the chain of command…
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Staff of the Ministry of Defence understand the corruption risks specific to their institutions, however there is no information suggesting that all the departments…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The Lithuanian army is one of the most trusted institutions in Lithuania. According to…
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Q10
67/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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Corruption risks are clearly identified. Annual records since 2010 can be found online. The Corruption Prevention programme (approved in 2017) also identifies spheres where…
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Self-assessments of corruption risks have been undertaken since 2010 by each body of the defence system. Based on desk research, the summary of corruption…
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The Corruption Prevention Programme (2017-2025) was prepared in accordance with Republic of Lithuania Law on Prevention of Corruption and the National Anti-corruption Program of…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
83/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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The Ministry of Defence has a process for acquisition planning and publishes this online. However, there are no connections between specific purchases and the…
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In general, the public has access to procedural information online. The Public Procurement Plan for 2018 (established by the Defence Resource Council, the Lithuanian…
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The Parliament of Lithuania approves the State Budget. The Public Procurement Office (PPO) monitors procurements in Lithuania, including defence procurements, and annually assesses around…
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Q12
88/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The defence budget is publicly available in PDF format on the Ministry of Defence website [1]. The last published set of financial statements dates…
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According to the Constitution (Article 129), ‘the budget year starts on the 1st of January and ends on the 31st of December’. The Government…
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Q13
88/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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Both the Committee on National Security and Defence, as well as the Audit Committee, have formal rights to scrutinise the defence budget. The Defence…
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The Ministry of Defence annually presents its activities, results and financial information to the Audit Committee which may question the decisions and make recommendations…
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Q14
75/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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Reports on actual budgets have been available since 2012 on the Ministry of Defence website [1]. They are published in a timely manner, with…
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The defence budget is publicly available in PDF format. Although the budget is detailed (as mentioned in 14A), some information remains classified as “other…
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There is no publicly available information about the statistics of Freedom of Information requests regarding the defence budget. From the NGO TI Lithuania’s experience,…
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Q15
75/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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In the financial reports of the Ministry of National Defence, sources of income are normally divided into four parts: central government, municipalities, the European…
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The Ministry of National Defence has a centralised internal audit department that analyses and assesses how effectively financial and material resources are used. The…
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Media covers extensively defence expenses. For instance, it widely covered the procurements when the Lithuanian army bought kitchen items for around eight times the…
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Q16
67/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Ministry of National Defence has a centralised internal audit department that analyses and assesses how effectively financial and material resources are used. The…
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Military defence expenditure is subject to parliamentary oversight by the Committee for National Security and Defence [1]. It is also subject to internal auditing…
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Internal audit reports are released to legitimate external audit bodies (e.g. National Audit office, the Parliamentary Committee). The internal audit process is subject to…
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There is not enough information available on addressing audit findings in practice that will allow this indicator to be scored. It is worth noting…
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Q17
69/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The National Audit Office of Lithuania is a supreme public audit institution, accountable to the Seimas (unicameral parliament). This office audits the state budget…
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According to the Law on the National Audit Office [1], the Supreme Audit Office is financed through the state budget, and the Lithuanian Parliament…
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Audit information is published online. In the majority of cases, recommendations are also provided and their reception is monitored. Audit reports seem to be…
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There is evidence that the Ministry of Defence addresses audit findings. Yearly reports on the implementation of recommendations of the National Audit Office are…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
67/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There is no regulation or policy which regulates, allows or forbids national security system institutions to participate in the exploitation of natural resources. Moreover,…
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There are no cases of defence institutions being involved in business related to the country’s exploitation of natural resources. What is more, defence institutions…
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There is no evidence or publicly known cases of individual defence personnel being involved in businesses relating to the country’s exploitation of natural resources…
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There is no evidence or publicly known cases of defence institutions and individual defence personnel being involved in businesses relating to the country’s exploitation…
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There is no evidence or publicly known cases of defence institutions and individual defence personnel being involved in businesses relating to the country’s exploitation…
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Organised Crime
Q19
88/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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Through desk research, the Assessor did not find any evidence organised crime penetrating into the defence and security sector over the last few years.…
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In Lithuania’s National Security Strategy (updated in 2017), organised crime is mentioned as ‘a serious challenge to the unity of the European Union’ as…
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Q20
92/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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The policing function to investigate corruption and organised crime exists. The Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau has five investigation boards for serious criminal offences and…
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The Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau is a specialised institution of the Lithuanian Police Department under the Ministry of the Interior. The Police Department is…
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Generally, cases investigated by the institutions mentioned in question 20A undergo formal procedures. However, there was alleged influence to take certain decisions amongst the…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
63/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The committee of National Security and Defence (within the Parliament) is responsible for scrutinising the intelligence services’ policies, administration, and budgets [1]. The director…
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The Committee meets once a week and their meetings are open to the public unless the agenda covers classified information (every member has access…
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Q22
75/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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According to the Lithuanian Law on Intelligence Services, individuals shall be recruited in accordance with the general selection procedure as set out by the…
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The Law on Intelligence services states that a candidate who wishes to serve (work) for the intelligence services cannot be affiliated to a political…
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Based on the Law on Intelligence Services, the candidate has to submit a written agreement for his/her personal information to be checked for security…
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Export Controls
Q23
50/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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On 2nd of April 2013 in New York, Lithuania, along with other 66 countries, signed the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) [1]. The Parliament of…
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There is no clear evidence from open sources that the country takes special measures with regard to making concrete assessment of the countries to…
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Lithuanian business statistics indicate that arms exports have been increasing since 2016 data (for instance, 18 more exports were tracked to the USA and…
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Lobbying in Defence
Lithuania has adopted the Law on Lobbying Activities (last amended on 20 June 2017). It provides a definition of lobbying which (implicitly) covers all…
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There is no obligation for public officials to declare meetings with lobbyists. Public officials are obliged to declare their private interests when taking office…
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Lithuania has a mandatory registration system where lobbyists are required to disclose their identity, their clients, issue areas, targets and activities. Financial information is…
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The Chief Official Ethics Committee is the oversight institution, however it is not adequately resourced to conduct oversight [1]. Its track record does not…
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