Asked whether President Gitanas Nausėda was being careful when he criticised child protection services on Tuesday, she refused to go into details.
“I would not like to comment that. I will just say in general: politicians need to be very wise in such cases,” Čmilytė-Nielsen told ELTA on Wednesday.
The Seimas speaker admitted having found the video, which has been circulating on the internet, truly shocking. Every word should be weighed heavily in such situations, she added.
“The video is shocking. However, it is apparently one episode in what we now understand to be a very long story – a divorce drama. It is very unfortunate that the child, as it happens in such cases, becomes the most vulnerable one in the story. I would like to see both responsible persons and politicians, especially when looking at the whole context of the painful stories that have taken place in Lithuania, remaining extremely careful and weighing their every word,” said Čmilytė-Nielsen.
President Gitanas Nausėda earlier urged the Ombudsman for Protection of Children’s Rights and other institutions responsible to submit an assessment of the situation as soon as possible.
“Once again we have seen how much the services and the public are still lacking to have genuine and unbureaucratic care for children," Nausėda posted on his Facebook account on Tuesday.
Social Security Minister Navickienė called the president’s words “opportunism” and said she was disappointed with the comment.
Ilma Skuodienė, head of the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, said that the mother and the child seen in the video had been hiding following a court order. Last year, the court ruled that the child should live with the father.
The boy was taken away from his mother in September this year, which was captured in the widely circulated video.
The State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service has launched an internal inquiry. The Ombudsman for Protection of Children’s Rights has also opened an investigation after receiving a complaint.
