Parliamentary elections have begun in Lithuania. Surveys have recently suggested a possible change of government in the Baltic EU state, which borders the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Moscow’s war ally Belarus. According to the surveys, the strongest force could be the opposition Social Democrats, while Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte‘s conservative Fatherland Union, which governs with two liberal parties, recently only came in third place.
Both major parties have largely similar views on foreign and defense policy, for example advocating a clearly Western orientation towards the EU and NATO as well as resolute support for Ukraine in its defensive battle against Russia. The focus of the election campaign was therefore primarily on domestic and social policy issues.
On Sunday, the first of two rounds of voting will decide on the distribution of 70 parliamentary seats using proportional representation. In two weeks, the decision will be made on the 71 direct mandates in the people’s representation in Vilnius, known as Seimas.
A total of six political forces are likely to succeed in entering parliament; a sole majority does not seem realistic for any party. Polling stations close at 8:00 p.m. local time (7:00 p.m. CEST). Meaningful results are expected on Monday night.
Lithuania is particularly exposed to the geopolitical confrontation with Russia due to its location on NATO’s eastern flank and also sees Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine as a direct threat to its own security. Germany therefore wants to permanently station a combat-ready brigade with up to 5,000 Bundeswehr soldiers in Lithuania.
2024-10-13 05:11:00