Lithuanians vote
Lithuania votes on Sunday in a presidential election that will almost certainly hand a second term victory to Dalia Grybauskaite, popular for her abrasive style and strong criticism of what she sees as Russian expansionism.
Grybauskaite’s vocal stance against Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine has struck a chord in Lithuania, which, like the other former Soviet Baltic states has been on edge since Russia seized Crimea, saying it needed to protect Russian speakers there.
Concerns have grown that Russia may try to destabilise the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia which have small military forces and Russian speaking minorities.
Grybauskaite has supported moving Lithuania away from energy dependence on Russia — which she described as an “existential threat” to the small republic. Lithuania is constructing an LNG terminal called “Independence” in the port city of Klaipeda to provide an alternative to Russian gas.
The 58-year-old president, who has a black belt in karate, held consistently high ratings throughout her first five-year term and had been touted for a senior EU job in Brussels before she announced her candidacy for re-election.
“People in Lithuania like her style, the outwardly projected toughness, resoluteness, her willingness to subject any minister to a talk-down,” said Kestutis Girnius, associate professor at the Vilnius Institute of International Relations and Political Science.
With a strong lead in the polls, the only real question is whether Grybauskaite will win outright or in a second round run-off. Results will not be announced until late Sunday or Monday morning.
The other main contenders are Zigmantas Balcytis, a social democrat who has the support of Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius, and Arturas Paulauskas from the centre-left Labour party, who opposes Lithuania’s membership of the euro zone.
The presidency holds considerable power in Lithuania. Grybauskaite appoints government ministers, as well as judges, the head of the central bank and the Lithuanian member of the European Commission, although she needs approval of the parliament or the prime minister for most of her appointments.