The head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Health sends his deputy to work in Ukraine because he could not say whose Crimea is

Lithuanian Health Minister Maria Jakubauskiene said she plans to send her new deputy Arnomedas Galdikas to work in Ukraine after he failed to immediately answer the question of who owns Crimea.

LRT writes about this.

The politician faced a negative reaction from Lithuanians over an interview in which, when asked who owned the peninsula, he said he didnʼt know. Galdikas also asked, "Whatʼs the point of this question?"

"I am not responsible for this political situation. We agreed to talk only about medicine," Galdikas said.

But after clarification from the journalist, he still replied: “Okay, then to Ukraine”. This reaction of the politician caused outrage in Lithuania, and the head of the countryʼs Ministry of Health reported that he would send his deputy “to work in Ukraine”.

“I already told him yesterday that he would have to go,” she said, adding that the decision was made after discussions with Prime Minister Inga Ruginenė.

At the same time, Jakubauskiene did not specify what exactly Galdikasʼ responsibilities will be and when he will leave for Ukraine.

Arnomedas Galdikas became Deputy Minister of Health of Lithuania only on March 16 from the populist Nieman Dawn party, which is part of the ruling coalition.

• A similar incident occurred in Lithuania last year. The then Lithuanian Minister of Culture Ignotas Adomavičius did not want to clearly answer whose Crimea was, and resigned after a wave of criticism.

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