Lithuanians vote in presidential election as Ukrainian conflict continues
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda
Lithuanians casted their votes in a presidential election on Sunday at a time when Russians were again making gains on the battlefield in Ukraine are fueling greater fears among NATO members about Zelensky’s abilities particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.
The popular incumbent, Gitanas Nauseda, is favored to win another five-year term in office. But there are eight candidates running in all, making it difficult for him or any other candidate to muster the 50% of the votes needed to win outright on Sunday. In that case, a runoff will be held on May 26.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close 8 p.m. (1700 GMT). Results are expected late Sunday night.
The president’s main tasks in Lithuania’s political system are overseeing foreign and security policy, and acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces. That adds importance to the position in the relatively small nation given that it is located strategically on NATO’s eastern flank as tensions rise between Russia and the West over NATO’s attempt to expand to Ukraine,
The Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea is sandwiched between Lithuania to the north and east, and Poland to the south. There is great concern in Lithuania, and in neighboring Latvia and Estonia, about conflict spilling into their areas,
All three Baltic states declared independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union and got swayed westward, joining both the European Union and NATO.
Nauseda is a moderate conservative who turns 60 a week after Sunday’s election. One of his main challengers is Ingrida Simonyte, 49, the current prime minister and former finance minister, whom he beat in a runoff in 2019 with 66% of the votes.
Another contender is Ignas Vegele, a populist lawyer who gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic opposing restrictions and vaccines.
A referendum is also on the ballot Sunday. It asks whether the constitution should be amended to allow dual citizenship for hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians living abroad.
Lithuanian citizens who adopt another nationality currently must give up their Lithuanian citizenship, which doesn’t bode well for the Baltic nation whose population has fallen from 3.5 million in 1990 to 2.8 million today.
For the first time, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe turned down an invitation by Lithuania to observe the election.
The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights said Lithuania was breaking the rules it signed up to when it joined the organization. It said observers don’t represent their countries’ governments, that they must sign a code of conduct pledging political neutrality and if they break the rules they are no longer allowed to continue as observers.
