"I was always against this referendum. I think politicians have full authorisation of the society to solve such problems, if they arise, to react promptly, and if necessary to adopt laws needed by Lithuanian people," said Butkevicius during the Government's Hour at the Seimas on Thursday.
According to the prime minister, the initiators of the referendum sought to make use of eurosceptic attitude to win additional votes in the presidential and the European Parliament elections.
"I have said it from the first day that the referendum is organized due to the upcoming presidential and European Parliament elections, and a certain situation in Europe was exploited, when eurosceptic parties in some countries have gained certain trust of the society. I think it was expected to achieve the same in Lithuania," said Butkevicius.
The prime minister confirmed he would come to cast vote in the referendum, yet he believed that safeguards against land speculation would have been adopted notwithstanding the referendum.
As reported, Lithuania has committed to allow foreigners to purchase land by seeking membership in the European Union and signing the accession agreement. However, 7 year transitional period was established and was in force until 2011. Later, Lithuania and the European Commission agreed to extend the transitional period to May 2014.
An initiative group, which does not approve selling land to foreigners, has gathered over 300,000 signatures to initiate a referendum over land sale to foreigners.
Parliament has decided to hold the referendum on 29 June.
It is estimated that agricultural land in Lithuania amounts to 2.8 million hectares.
The Government has further tightened land purchase regulations. Seeking to prevent speculation in land, the Government has basically approved of purchases not subject to restrictions when only 5 hectares of land are bought.
Land sale safeguards are introduced in many EU countries.
