Linkevičius said he notified the Labor Party's Vice-Chairman Vytautas Gapšys back on January 15 that the party's candidate Mantvydas Bekešius was unfit to be foreign vice-minister.
"I gave a written explanation of why the candidate was short of the requirements for the post. In order to serve as vice-minister and do work related with Eastern Partnership, you have to have more qualifications and diplomatic experience," Linkevičius told BNS on Monday.
"We didn't receive any more candidate proposals. Nearly three months have passed since January 15. We have to work and can't wait, this was in the explanation. I do not feel I have violated anything," he added.
Gapšys, the first parliamentary vice-speaker, said that Linkevičius' refusal to appoint the Labor Party's candidate as foreign vice-minister constituted a violation of the four-party coalition agreement.
Linkevičius chose Andrius Krivas, a former employee of the Lithuanian permanent minister at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as the fourth vice-minister.
