Lithuanians voted in a presidential election on Sunday at a time when Russian gains on the battlefield in Ukraine are fuelling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda appears on course to secure a second term following the country’s first round of presidential elections.
In a rerun of the 2019 elections, the president will face off against Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte in the country’s second round of presidential elections.
Nauseda narrowly missed the chance to be re-elected in the first round, receiving about 45% of the vote. 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. A runoff vote will be held on 26 May.
Polls closed at 8 pm local time. Initial voter turnout was 59.4%, higher than in the previous election in 2019, the Central Electoral Commission said.
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 its strategic location on NATO’s eastern flank as tensions rise between Russia and the West over Moscow’s invasion of 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, as well as neighbouring Latvia and Estonia, about Russian troops’ latest gains in north-eastern Ukraine.
All three Baltic states declared independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union and took a determined westward course, 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 66.5% of the votes.
Another contender is Ignas Vegele, who gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic by opposing restrictions and vaccines.
Nauseda’s first term in office ends at the beginning of July.
