his hound [LNK journalist Tomas Dapkus] with him”. She had also allegedly pressured Masiulis into following her orders such as convincing the then-ruling Social Democratic Party, to prevent Saulius Skvernelis from getting a post “if he goes to a party that is not aiming for a coalition”. Only Masiulis himself has been accused of bribery, graft as well as mass-scale trading in influence by the court. However, the scandal had significantly affected the President's ratings with the polls indicating a drop of almost 11% of support from the general public. The per cent of people having a negative opinion about Grybauskaitė rose from 18.5% to 27.5%. The Presidential Palace stated that there's no way of proving the authenticity of these emails. “The rule of the democratic system of the oligarchy was stopped even though we all burnt our fingers, including me,” Grybausakitė said in her last but one annual President's Report. Supporting a pro-war stance of NATO against Russia Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, ex-President Grybauskaitė publicly supported a direct NATO military confrontation with Russia believing the diplomatic negotiations had failed and more sanctions won’t deter Russia from pursuing its military goals. “War can be only stopped by a war, which has already started,” Grybauskaitė wrote on Facebook. “I’m ashamed to hear that leaders and officials of NATO states are muttering about not being able to involve in the conflict but being fine with it in the case of Syria, Libya, Africa, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan?” she added. Although the Conservatives supported her message, this rhetoric was met with criticism from some Lithuanian politicians. During an interview, Ramūnas Karbauskis claimed that such rhetoric is harmful to the relations with the West and compared this to Lithuania’s stance against China, which resulted in a costly economic blockade. “We can trash the leaders of France and Germany all we want but afterwards we will be going to have a conversation with them about the need for additional military troops [in the country],” he said. “Grybauskaitė can say whatever she wants as she is a senior citizen and bares no responsibility for her words. [...] If Lithuanian leaders start talking like this, there will surely be irreversible consequences.” Awards Grybauskaitė has received the following national and international awards: Further reading Tomas Janeliūnas. 2020. Foreign Policy Analysis of a Baltic State: Lithuania and 'Grybauskaitė Doctrine'. Routledge. References External links Website of the Lithuanian