In the presidential election in Lithuania, a clear victory for incumbent Nauseda is emerging. According to interim results, he is in the lead by a wide margin. His rival Simonyte has already admitted defeat.
Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda is likely to run for a second term. After about a third of the votes had been counted, he secured more than 80 percent of the votes in the runoff election for the presidency.
His rival, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, admitted defeat during the vote count in view of her significant deficit. The final result is expected to be announced overnight.
Already clear winner in the first round
Nauseda went into the duel as the clear favorite. He won the first round of voting on May 12 with 44 percent of the vote, while Simonyte came second with around 20 percent. The former chief economist of the Swedish banking group SEB, who does not belong to any party, has been in office since 2019.
The 60-year-old has made a name for himself as a determined supporter of Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. He has also made a name for himself internationally as a committed representative of the interests of his home country, which is particularly exposed in the geopolitical confrontation with Russia due to its location on NATO’s eastern flank. Germany wants to permanently station a combat-ready brigade with up to 5,000 German soldiers in the country.
Similar positions on many issues
In Lithuania, the head of state has mainly representative duties, but in comparison to the German Federal President, he has more extensive powers in foreign and defense policy. Nauseda and Simonyte speak with one voice on many issues. Both strongly support a strong role for NATO in the security of the region and support higher military spending.
There are differences on sociopolitical issues such as the right to abortion and the recognition of same-sex civil partnerships. Simonyte represents a more liberal stance than Nauseda in predominantly Catholic Lithuania.
On election day, Simonyte was still optimistic that she could be an alternative for voters. If she won the election, she would not change the state’s pro-European, western orientation. However, she wanted to work for faster progress, greater openness and more tolerance, said the 49-year-old.
According to the electoral commission, just under half of the approximately 2.4 million eligible voters in the country, which borders the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia’s close ally Belarus, cast their votes. This means that turnout was significantly lower than in the first round of voting on May 12.