President of the Republic of Lithuania G. Nausėda: Klaipėda district has a very strong community

The President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda together with the first lady Diana Nausėdiene paid a working visit to the Klaipėda district on Tuesday, meeting with the heads of the Municipality, representatives of education, culture, communities, youth and society. At the end of the working visit, the head of the country G. NAUSĖDA gave an interview to the editors of the “Banga” newspaper.
The general atmosphere is positive
– Dear President, this is not the first time you are visiting the Klaipėda district, you have met with the mayor of the district and other leaders. What (un)positive changes have you noticed in the district after a few years, what makes Klaipėda district unique to you?
It seems to me that there is a very strong community in Klaipėda district. We have just returned from Priekulė, where the high school students themselves raised the question to talk about the identity of Little Lithuania. It’s very interesting because it shows that children are looking for answers, it’s important to them what their roots are, what traditions they should nurture.
Klaipėda district is growing, which leads to a completely different atmosphere. When you see some regions still shrinking, you have a different situation. Klaipėda district is a circular municipality, young families are very attracted to build residential housing in the countryside. This creates both new opportunities and new problems. When the population grows a lot, there is an additional need for roads, education, and social infrastructure. If it is not possible to cope with these challenges, there is a shortage of places in schools and kindergartens. On the other hand, today we talked a lot about it in the Municipality, they know how to solve it, they have foreseen the ways of implementing those solutions. It is only a matter of time before they are implemented. I think the overall atmosphere in the area is positive.
Today we were walking through the center of Gargžda and a woman stopped and shared her thoughts: she is happy, she has lived here since birth and she doesn’t want to live anywhere else, because it is good to live here, the nature is beautiful here, there is an opportunity to find a job. I think this is important for people.
In the fight – and brutal measures
– In Gargždai, at the Jonas Lankutis public library, you met with the heads of the Municipality, specialists, educators, schoolchildren, and talked about the very painful and topical topic of the use and distribution of psychotropic substances. What is your impression of how this problem is solved in our district?
Klaipėda district has a good pilot project, a certain control system is implemented in the school (several Lithuanian schools participate in the pilot project, among them – Gargždų “Kranto” pro-gymnasium – author’s note). This is a really good example for other schools in the country. In this case, very close cooperation between the Municipality, the police and the school management is required. When that cooperation is there, the result can be really good. At the meeting, it was particularly interesting for me to listen to young people, because they probably have the best understanding of the reasons for the spread of drugs. Unfortunately, we have to state that the most important reason they indicated is that the herd feeling works first: if others are trying, then I want to too. And another important reason is related to our education policy – it is stress due to endless assessments, exams, of which there are even several in a week. And children try to soothe themselves in inappropriate ways.
There are no easy answers when it comes to a problem like this. But still. On the one hand, prevention is needed. I think it is necessary to show what drug use means to a young person and what it can turn into. And in my opinion, it should be shown in a brutal form. One of my ideas was, why can’t we see on the walls of schools those terrible images of what drugs do to a person? Of course, you need to consult with psychologists and specialists. I’m not really pushing it. On the other hand, it is necessary to fight with legislative measures, with stricter punishments for drug distribution. We will do this, we have prepared such a legislative initiative and will submit it to the Seimas in a few weeks.
Mail is not just commerce
– In the regions, there are relevant services of the Lithuanian Post Office, which are moving away from the people during the reform of the post office, although it is declared otherwise. Many of our readers in rural areas also complain that it is difficult to subscribe to a newspaper and receive other quality postal services on time.
As a matter of fact, the regional media remained almost the only press that physically reaches the local people. And there is still a need for people, I hope it will remain. The government’s postal reform means that the post office has become a public company with all the consequences that this entails. I would think that the state, as the owner of this postal institution, should think not only about the commercial function of the post office, but also about the social one. This is such a specificity of state-owned enterprises that they cannot be made purely commercial, because then certain services are doomed to disappear. At this point, we need to talk about separating the social function from the commercial one, so to speak. The state, when evaluating the results of the post office, simply has to take into account that the financial results may not be as good as if they were performing a purely commercial function. But it is justified because it also served a social function. In general, the issue of support for regional media should be addressed by the Media Support Fund, as it was established for that purpose. His job is to help the regional media and I hope he fulfills that duty.
There are also opportunities for reform
– Recently, people have been faced with banks being remote, branches are closing, there is a lack of ATMs, and people only receive rewards to their accounts, and sometimes in remote areas there is no way to even withdraw money.
I understand. There are two ways. One, the less you use ATMs, the less important cash is, especially among young people. But, of course, there are people of different ages and habits. The bank is a private institution and if the state starts regulating how to do it, it will be wrong. So there is another way: a state agreement with commercial banks would be needed so that the service would remain in certain places, even though it might be somewhat financially unprofitable. Banks, believe me I know this, make really good money from transactions both with businesses and with our residents. So that one hundred thousand euros less would probably not be a big tragedy for them.
– The reform of health institutions is relevant for the people of the regions, there is concern whether the reform will distance services from the local people.
This was not the goal of the reform. Its goal was to provide a better service to a person, even if the next time they have to take a ride. The situation of Klaipėda district is specific because it is a circular municipality. There are many secondary and tertiary level hospitals in Klaipėda. The reform was carried out taking into account this circumstance. As I understand it, the situation of the Gargždai hospital is still questionable. However, this reform presents not only challenges, but also opportunities. Certain investments are planned, but for now the painful process of reform is underway, when it is necessary to reorganize. After the reorganization, investments await, which can be meaningfully used in the installation of more advanced medical equipment, maybe even in the provision of services closer to the person. I hope that the Klaipėda district municipality has chosen the right reform model, that this model will provide financial opportunities and that we will see positive results of the reform in the future.
The defense tax is not for self-government
– We are talking on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Lithuania’s membership in the EU, we are seeing a change in life, we are helping the struggling Ukraine, and we have been talking a lot about the defense tax lately. What should it be? Some voices were heard saying that part of the funds should be taken from the municipalities?
Well, why not! Sitting in Vilnius, it is easy to think that the municipalities are overflowing with money. It is just the opposite: we constantly impose new functions on municipalities, and we are constantly late with finances or do not provide them at all. And now such proposals, frankly speaking, are confusing. Perhaps they can be understood since they come from a party that performed poorly in local elections and has no mayors. Maybe this is a kind of revenge against the municipalities. Of course, we cannot go this way. My answer is simple: we have a business income tax, a profit tax, we can talk about increasing it, we can talk about extending the solidarity contribution of banks, but at this stage neither taking the share of municipal finances, nor raising VAT, which is basically a tax not on businesses, but on residents, are not appropriate solutions to the problem.
– President, your agenda is always busy. Aren’t you disappointed when you come to our area? Time is precious, especially yours?
Time is cheap when you spend it with people. Why do I like interacting with people? They put everything in the palm of their hands: both good and bad emotions. If there were only good emotions, I would say that someone is in trouble or is deceiving me or playing. Sometimes there is a bad emotion: people say what they don’t like. On Monday, a person in Mažeikiai said that everything is in order, pensions are being increased, but he scolded us for forgetting a young person. I replied that I would try to do as much as possible for the benefit of young people. It is not easy for young people to stand on their feet. There are many different opportunities, but they are also available abroad. I really, very sincerely want as many people as possible to stay in Lithuania, build their lives, raise children. It would be a win-win for all of us.
– Thank you for conversation.
Vilija BUTKUVIENĖ spoke
Photo by A. VALAIČIOS.