More bad news, not just the rotting brains and teeth of the generals. People, if you know that billions of euros are being stolen for defense in Lithuania, why are you silent?

 "Increasing spending on national defense is a way to prepare the country for the biggest possible threats. It is necessary to master the latest military technologies. Here, the neighbors, the Estonians, have set out to build an entire defense industrial park, where ammunition, cars, and small drones would be produced. Meanwhile, the Lithuanians began to structurally strengthen their military capabilities. It is necessary to establish a separate military unit on the example of Ukraine - an unmanned systems force consisting of drones, sea drones and ground robots. Large funds will be allocated to new weapons, equipment and ammunition, acquiring new air defense systems.

 

 In the course of medium-range air defense, our state loudly announced the purchase of the NASAMS system... And it is this name that causes questions for every taxpayer. The bottom line is that our nation had already acquired a medium-range air defense system for NASAMS, only ... it was not transferred to where it was needed, because of the history of the missiles, it was inoperable. The former Minister of National Defense, Arvydas Anušauskas, spoke about this, promising to open a thick smoke screen, and in fact, the possible large-scale corruption in arms procurement hidden under this metaphor. Who could deny that precisely because of this statement, this minister was dismissed without explanation. In his programmatic article "The army always prepares only for future scenarios" (Lietuvos Aidas, No. 10), he points out another potentially criminal factual circumstance: in national defense procurement, contracts were tolerated without guaranteeing the supply of spare parts. 

In other words, non-functioning, dummy weapons were purchased, the use of which is impossible under the conditions of emerging threats. And this would mean the inevitable, brutal and senseless deaths of soldiers, unable to defend themselves. It is obvious that this type of destructive procurement is nothing but the work of the internal enemy of the state, and all hostile special services usually use corrupt officials and politicians.

 

 However, the biggest surprise is the state controlling institutions, whose duty is to stop any manifestations of corruption in state governance. Unbelievably, no investigation was launched after the specific facts and exposure made public by a high-ranking official, maliciously disrupting arms purchases worth tens of millions of euros. And this is not the story of some golden spoons, when kitchen equipment for the Lithuanian army was bought much more expensive than in an ordinary store.

 

 Today, the increase in the defense budget means enormous funds that can be successfully stolen without institutional supervision, especially with the emergence of new legal nuances in the procedures for arms procurement. Large-scale corruption always has a destructive effect on the state's defense and security policy, and hinders economic and political development. It was not for nothing that Dante put corrupt officials in the lowest circle of hell.

 

 The strength of democracy is primarily the strength of legitimacy. When the political will is weak, and the institutions and their leaders openly tolerate corrupt transactions, the civic responsibility of the Lithuanian people for the defense and security of the state must be strengthened.

 

 Democratic monitoring is the opportunity of the society itself to control the state institutions and demand from them first of all transparent use of budget funds and accountability.

 

 We invite you to join the initiative of the Democratic Monitoring Group, whose goal is transparency and accountability in the use of defense budget funds.

 

 We will demand legal responsibility for corrupt acts and damage caused to the state.

 

 We will defeat the corrupt internal enemy with the will of the people and the efforts of all the people of Lithuania."