VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanians return to the polls on Sunday for the Baltic country’s second round of presidential elections as incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda tries to stop Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and secure a new five-year term.
The 60-year-old Nauseda, a moderate conservative, has been a strong supporter of Ukraine, a view shared by most of the political spectrum. The popular Nauseda has been in power since 2009, during which time Lithuania has also provided shelter to many who fled authoritarianism in neighboring Belarus and increased repression in Russia.
The president’s main duties in the political system of NATO member state Lithuania are to oversee foreign and defense policy, in addition to acting as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Given that Lithuania is strategically located on NATO’s eastern flank, the presidency of a relatively small nation takes on added importance as tensions rise between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine.
The elections come at a time when Russian gains in Ukraine are raising fears about Moscow’s intentions, especially in the strategically important Baltic region.
After regaining its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, which occupied the southernmost Baltic country for fifty years, Lithuania joined the European Union and NATO in 2004.
Both candidates have been outspoken critics of Moscow and Minsk, an ally of Russia.
Nausėda, who is favored to win another five-year term, is a former banker who entered politics with his successful presidential bid in 2019. He and Šimonytė won the first round but failed to reach the 50% of gathering the votes needed to win the presidency outright. . Nausėda won the first round on May 12 with 44% of the votes and Šimonytė almost 20%.
Both Nausėda and Šimonytė, who became prime minister in 2020, also ran against each other in a presidential runoff in 2019, when Nausėda won with 66% of the vote.
Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission is expected to announce the election results on Monday.
