United States demands explanation from Lithuania concerning sale of donated weapons
The United States is demanding an explanation from Lithuania regarding how the M14 sniper semi-automatic rifles, donated to the Lithuanian Army and highly valued by collectors around the world, appeared in private hands, Delfi reported.
“The US Embassy believes that the aid, transferred by the US government, was illegally handed to third parties, disregarding the signed agreement on prohibition of re-sale of the arms donated by the Americans,” the news portal notes.
It was noted that the M14 semi-automatic rifles were sold freely in Lithuania; they could be bought by anyone who had a permit to carry a weapon. The Lithuanian Weaponry Fund, which is in the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sold the guns at very low prices: € 347.54 each.
The US government handed over these guns to Lithuania in 1999 (they had been the main weapon of the US Army from 1959 to 1970). After their modernization, they were used by the Lithuanian military.
In 2014, the guns were transferred to the Weaponry Fund, which began to sell them. All were sold at the same price. But two years later, upon the order of the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania, the decision was made to return the rifles, because the US government had learned about the sale.
According to the news agency’s sources, the fact that the donated guns were sold became known to the Americans by accident; collectors blabbed and the information reached intelligence. At that point, the United States officially decided to inquire about the fate of the guns. Weapons were sold freely and this information was on the internet.
The Lithuanian defense minister, Juozas Olekas, could not explain how the weapons donated to Lithuania could be sold and promised to find out everything he could about the situation.