Lithuania | Outgoing President Gitanas Nauseda re-elected

(Vilnius) The pro-European President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda was triumphantly re-elected on Sunday in the second round of the presidential election, facing his Prime Minister and rival Ingrida Simonyte who admitted her defeat.

After counting 96% of the ballots, Mr. Nauseda, a 60-year-old former center-right banker, collected 74.6% of the votes, according to the Electoral Commission, ensuring him a second five-year term at the head of the Baltic country. The participation rate was 49.61%.

The vote was held while this country of 2.8 million inhabitants, member of the EU and NATO, feels threatened by neighboring Russia, strongly criticized by Mr. Nauseda who has established himself as a staunch defender of Ukraine.

The Lithuanian people “entrusted me with a great mandate of trust and I am well aware that I will have to cherish this credit of trust,” Nauseda told reporters in Vilnius.

“Now that I have five years of experience, I think I will definitely be able to use this gem correctly, first of all to achieve the welfare goals for all residents of Lithuania,” he said. he adds.

Conservative Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, 49, who was running for the second time against Mr. Nauseda but obtained less than a quarter of the vote, acknowledged her defeat and said she “congratulates the president-designate of Lithuania.”

Congratulations from Zelensky

During its first term, Lithuania has hosted tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022.

According to the Germany-based Kiel Institute, the country ranks in the top three donors to the war-torn country as a percentage of GDP.

Lithuania fears it will be Russia’s next target if it wins the war against Ukraine, and Mr Nauseda is a vocal critic of the Kremlin.

“The hatred fueled by Russia threatens our world order. It threatens every one of us,” he said on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion in February.

“With the re-election of Gitanas Nauseda, we will see continuity in foreign and security policy, areas in which the president will try to remain active,” said university political analyst Mykolas Romeris

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was one of the first to congratulate his counterpart. “You have been by our side every day and night during these very difficult years,” he wrote on the social network X.

“I appreciate your sincere support for Ukraine and am confident that by working together we will ensure freedom, peace and security in Ukraine, the Baltic States and all of Europe,” he said. he adds.

Defense spending on the rise

Lithuania, a former Soviet republic which declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, spends 2.75% of its GDP on defense and plans to increase this rate soon, which Mr Nauseda supports.

“Lithuania’s independence and freedom are like a fragile ship that we must cherish, protect and prevent from cracking,” the head of state told reporters on Sunday evening.

In Lithuania, the president directs defense policy and foreign policy and attends EU and NATO summits. But he must consult the government and parliament to appoint the highest officials.

For Rafal, 40, sculptor, Mr. Nauseda is a guarantee of security and stability.

“I have a small child […]so I want Lithuania to develop and be a country where life is good,” explains Rafal, 40, a sculptor, who voted for Mr. Nauseda.

Gitanas Nauseda’s critics, however, accuse him of gaining popularity by sticking to the middle ground and avoiding debates on controversial political issues.

Unlike his rival Ingrida Simonyte – economically right-wing and socially liberal – he has conservative views on gay rights, and has spoken out in the past against the adoption of children by couples. of the same sex.

In 2023, local media revealed that he had belonged to the Communist Party in the final years before independence, between 1988 and 1990. He called this episode a “youthful mistake”.