Ingrida Simonyte, the prime minister, and President Gitanas Nauseda, the president, will face off in a second round of voting for the presidency of Lithuania.
Following the incumbent’s failure to secure an overall majority in the first round of voting on Sunday, the president and prime minister of Lithuania will compete in the second round of the presidential election on May 26.
Gitanas Nauseda, the president of the former Soviet state of Lithuania, led with 46% of the vote, while Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte received 16% after nearly all votes were counted.
Fears about Russia’s neighbor have dominated the election, and all of the major contenders concurred that NATO and EU members should increase defense spending to offset the alleged threat.
The 59-year-old former banker Nauseda declared he would run against Simonyte with “no strategy” and was certain he would win in the second round.
A 49-year-old fiscal conservative who holds liberal social beliefs is his opponent. She particularly advocates for same-sex relationships, which is controversial in the largely Catholic nation.
Maximum Audience
Prior to the voting, surveys of public opinion put Nauseda far ahead of the other seven contenders, who included well-known attorney Ignas Vegele and Simonyte.
Aldona Majaus Kiene, an 82-year-old retiree, told AFP that Nauseda was the winner of her vote because “he is the best in every category”.
53-year-old civil servant Airine said she supported Simonyte and anticipates the next president would be less populist.
“I am not voting for faces, I am voting for those who really can help boost our security and quality of living,” she stated.
More than 59% of voters participated, which is a record high since the 1997 presidential election.
Following his defeat in a 2019 runoff to Nauseda, Simonyte is attempting to win the presidency a second time.
According to Vilnius University expert Ramunas Vilpisauskas, “Nauseda is a candidate of the left in terms of economic and social policy, while Simonyte is supported by conservative party voters and liberal people,” AFP was told.
In addition to leading defense and international policy and participating in summits of the EU and NATO, the president of Lithuania must confer with the government and parliament before designating the highest-ranking officials.
Budget for Defense
With a population of 2.8 million, Lithuania is a major contributor to Ukraine’s defense expenditure, which now amounts to 2.75 percent of GDP.
Within a few weeks, the Simonyte-led administration is anticipated to present plans that might contribute to increasing defense spending to three percent of GDP.
With Berlin hoping to finish stationing some 5,000 troops by 2027, Lithuania aims to use the money to buy tanks, more air defense systems, and to host a German brigade.
Foreign policy discussions have occasionally been sparked by the tense relationship between Nauseda and Simonyte’s ruling conservatives, most notably on Lithuania’s relations with China.
After Vilnius let Taiwan to establish a de facto embassy under the island’s name in 2021—a departure from the customary diplomatic practice of using the name of the capital Taipei to avoid upsetting Beijing—bilateral relations became contentious.
Downgrading diplomatic ties with Vilnius and blocking its exports, China—which regards Taiwan as part of its territory and takes offense at anything that could give the island any sort of international legitimacy—led some politicians in Lithuania to call for the restoration of relations for pragmatic reasons.
The head of the Eastern Europe Studies Center, Linas Kojala, stated that “China’s reaction to the opening of the office was harsher than predicted, and that sparked the debate,” adding that China’s actions were detrimental to regional companies.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD
