Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda secured a second term in office in a presidential election runoff on Sunday, with his contender conceding defeat.
Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė admitted defeat on Sunday in the final round of the Baltic nation's presidential election as the ongoing vote count showed her far behind in the two-way race against incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda.
The polling stations closed at 8 p.m. local time (GMT 1700) and full results are expected around midnight. In Lithuania, exit polls are not conducted during elections. However, partial results with some 30% of ballots counted showed the incumbent winning 82%.
It was the second time the two had competed in a presidential run-off. In 2019, Nausėda beat Šimonytė with 66% of the vote.
In the first round held on May 12, Nausėda, who ran for re-election as an independent candidate, received almost 44% of the vote, short of the 50% he needed for an outright victory.
Šimonytė, the candidate of the ruling conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, came second with 20%.
The first round also witnessed the highest turnout in the country since 1997.
The Baltic nation of 2.8 million people has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Like other countries in the region, the NATO and EU member states worry that it could be Moscow’s next target.
Just over half of Lithuanians believe a Russian attack is possible or even very likely, according to a ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai poll conducted between February and March. Russia has regularly dismissed the idea that it might attack a NATO member.
Nausėda said during a debate on Tuesday that he sees Russia as an enemy. “Our enemies ‒ who even call themselves our enemies, who are enemies of us and all the democratic world - are attempting to destabilize our politics, and we must do all to resist,” he said.
Minor differences, common goal
Both Nausėda and Šimonytė supported increasing defense spending to at least 3% of Lithuania’s gross domestic product, from the 2.75% planned for this year.
But Nausėda, who is a social conservative, has clashed with Šimonytė on other issues, including whether to give legal recognition to same-sex civil partnerships, which Nausėda opposes.
He has said it would make such unions too similar to marriage, which Lithuania’s constitution only allows for a man and a woman.
Šimonytė, a former finance minister and a fiscal hawk, said on Thursday that if she won, “the direction for the country, pro-European, pro-Western, would not change.”
However, she added: “But I would like quicker progress, more openness and understanding, larger tolerance to people who are different from us.”
Role of the president
Lithuania’s president has a semi-executive role, which includes heading the armed forces, chairing the supreme defense and national security policy body and representing the country at European Union and NATO summits.
The president sets foreign and security policy in tandem with the government, can veto laws and has a say in the appointment of key officials such as judges, the chief prosecutor, the chief of defense and the head of the central bank.
The polling stations closed at 8 p.m. local time (GMT 1700) and full results are expected around midnight. In Lithuania, exit polls are not conducted during elections. However, partial results with some 30% of ballots counted showed the incumbent winning 82%.
It was the second time the two had competed in a presidential run-off. In 2019, Nausėda beat Šimonytė with 66% of the vote.
In the first round held on May 12, Nausėda, who ran for re-election as an independent candidate, received almost 44% of the vote, short of the 50% he needed for an outright victory.
Šimonytė, the candidate of the ruling conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, came second with 20%.
The first round also witnessed the highest turnout in the country since 1997.
The Baltic nation of 2.8 million people has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Like other countries in the region, the NATO and EU member states worry that it could be Moscow’s next target.
Just over half of Lithuanians believe a Russian attack is possible or even very likely, according to a ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai poll conducted between February and March. Russia has regularly dismissed the idea that it might attack a NATO member.
Nausėda said during a debate on Tuesday that he sees Russia as an enemy. “Our enemies ‒ who even call themselves our enemies, who are enemies of us and all the democratic world - are attempting to destabilize our politics, and we must do all to resist,” he said.
Minor differences, common goal
Both Nausėda and Šimonytė supported increasing defense spending to at least 3% of Lithuania’s gross domestic product, from the 2.75% planned for this year.
But Nausėda, who is a social conservative, has clashed with Šimonytė on other issues, including whether to give legal recognition to same-sex civil partnerships, which Nausėda opposes.
He has said it would make such unions too similar to marriage, which Lithuania’s constitution only allows for a man and a woman.
Šimonytė, a former finance minister and a fiscal hawk, said on Thursday that if she won, “the direction for the country, pro-European, pro-Western, would not change.”
However, she added: “But I would like quicker progress, more openness and understanding, larger tolerance to people who are different from us.”
Role of the president
Lithuania’s president has a semi-executive role, which includes heading the armed forces, chairing the supreme defense and national security policy body and representing the country at European Union and NATO summits.
The president sets foreign and security policy in tandem with the government, can veto laws and has a say in the appointment of key officials such as judges, the chief prosecutor, the chief of defense and the head of the central bank.
Source: LRT.It, Reuters, TVP World
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