Delfi.lt, BNS

Conservative Lithuanian MP Valdas Rakutis has resigned as chairman of the parliament’s Commission on the Battles for Freedom and State Historical Memory following criticism of his statements about the Holocaust.

“Asked by the leadership of the Homeland Union/Lithuanian Christian Democrat [Conservative] Party and parliamentary faction, accepting political responsibility, and not wanting the very important work of the Commission on the Battles for Freedom and State Historical Memory to be made more difficult by this statement of mine, and also following the Western political tradition, I have decided to take the honorable step and to withdraw from the post of chairman of this commission,” the MP said in a statement released Friday. “I hope this step will help calm unnecessary tension both within the country and abroad with our important strategic partners, and will allow for further discussion to develop in a constructive direction,” he said.

Full story in Lithuanian here.