Lithuanian Panel Finds Mafia Links

MOSCOW — A Lithuanian Parliament investigation concluded Monday that President Rolandas Paksas’ office has links to organized crime that “menace the national security,” prompting new calls for his resignation and a possible impeachment vote.

A commission looking into alleged connections between Paksas and the Russian mafia found that the president “has been and is vulnerable” to influence because of his relationships and those of his senior advisors with mobsters. The panel said there also was evidence that Paksas leaked secret law enforcement information to targets of a criminal investigation.

The case has been closely watched because Lithuania, which declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990 and is considered one of the relative success stories of the post-Soviet era, is scheduled to join the European Union and NATO next year. The scandal places at Europe’s doorstep a caldron of controversy similar to the kind of allegations of corruption and influence buying that have marked other former Soviet republics.

Last week, thousands of protesters in Georgia prompted the resignation of President Eduard A. Shevardnadze, accused of, among other things, failing to stem corruption in that former Soviet republic.

Over the weekend, at least 5,000 Lithuanians took to the streets of their capital, Vilnius, demanding that Paksas, a 47-year-old former stunt pilot elected in January, step down.

Aloyzas Sakalas, head of the parliamentary commission, said in a telephone interview Monday that his panel “made a conclusion that the activities of the president constitute a threat to national security.” He said it found “enough evidence to suggest that an organized crime ring tried to influence the president through his close aides.”

Paksas, he said, “knew about it, because he was warned about what was going on several times.” He said the panel had made no recommendation on impeachment.

Parliament was to discuss the commission’s report and possible impeachment proceedings today, and there were growing demands for Paksas to resign. “There’s only one way out of this situation, and he knows it,” Parliament Speaker Arturas Paulauskas said in an interview.

Prime Minister Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas expressed a similar view. “If I was the president, I would resign,” he told reporters in Vilnius.

But Paksas signaled his intention to remain in office.

“We are not talking about resignation so far. We don’t think the accusations are grounded well enough for that,” said Antanas Martusiavichus, a presidential spokesman. The president has denied having any links to organized crime or leaking confidential information.

Martusiavichus said Paksas still planned to travel to the U.S. to meet President Bush. U.S. officials said the invitation, to thank Lithuania for the troops committed in Afghanistan and Iraq, remained open. “This is a domestic Lithuanian matter. We’re watching it very carefully,” said U.S. Embassy spokesman Anthony Pahigian.

At least three political parties, including one from the ruling coalition, announced they were prepared to launch impeachment proceedings -- a move that would require the signatures of at least 36 of Parliament’s 137 sitting deputies. At least 85 votes would be needed to impeach the president.

Some lawmakers characterized the probe as political payback for Paksas’ unexpected election. Dailis Barakauskas, a member of the commission, refused to endorse its report. There was “no reason to state” that there was any threat to national security, he said, according to Baltic News Service.

The scandal began Oct. 30, when the Lithuanian State Security Department reported that the country had been used for money laundering and as a transit point for arms and other “forbidden and dual-use materials.”

The report alleged that the main financial backer for Paksas’ campaign, Russian businessman Yuri Borisov, was involved in illegal arms trading with Sudan.

The security report and taped conversations released later showed that Borisov bragged in March that he had received “election promises” from Paksas, including a signed pledge to name him as an advisor. In an interview with a Lithuanian newspaper, Borisov said: “Of course we had an agreement with the president. What do you expect: I give him money, hello and goodbye?”

Borisov was not named an advisor but did receive Lithuanian citizenship.

“The president’s ties with Borisov are exceptional. Seeking to achieve political, economic and personal aims ... Borisov influenced activities of the president’s office,” the news service quoted the report as saying.

The security department traced contacts between Paksas’ former national security advisor and Russian businessman Anzor Aksentyev Kikalishvili, who it alleges has ties to international criminal groups.

“Criminals or persons with dubious reputations took actions to replace certain leaders of law enforcement agencies which they didn’t like,” Sakalas said. “These persons were acting on the strength of the classified information ... leaked to them from the presidential circle.”

Andrius Kubilius, head of the conservative opposition Homeland Union party, said that if more than 85 deputies signed a paper to initiate impeachment, it would “create a moral situation in which the president will be obliged to resign.”

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Times staff writer Sergei L. Loiko contributed to this report.