The current president says he sees Russia as an “enemy” and has accused Moscow of trying to destabilize Vilnius.
Lithuania is holding its presidential election and incumbent Gitanas Nauseda is expected to win after a campaign dominated by security concerns in the post-Soviet state.
Sunday's vote is a rematch between Nauseda and his closest rival, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, who also promised to maintain the country's pro-European policies.
The Baltic nation of 2.8 million people has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since the 2022 Russian invasion. Like other countries in the region, the NATO and European Union member worries it could be the next target from Moscow.
Nauseda, 60, a former senior economist at Swedish banking group SEB who is not affiliated with any party, won the first round of the election on May 12 with 44 percent of the vote, less than the 50 percent he needed to win. an absolute victory. .
He is running against Simonyte, 49, of the ruling center-right National Union party, which has been lagging in opinion polls. She was the only woman among eight candidates in the first round and she came in second with 20 percent.
More than half of Lithuanians believe that a Russian attack is possible or very likely, according to an ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai poll conducted between February and March. Russia has periodically rejected the idea that it might attack a NATO member.
Nauseda said in a debate Tuesday that he sees Russia as an enemy.
“Our enemies – who even call themselves our enemies, who are enemies of us and of the entire democratic world – are trying to destabilize our politics, and we must do everything possible to resist.”
Both Nauseda and Simonyte support increasing defense spending to at least 3 percent of Lithuania's gross domestic product, from the 2.75 percent planned for this year.
But Nauseda, who is a social conservative, has clashed with Simonyte on other issues, including whether legal recognition should be given to same-sex civil unions, which Nauseda opposes. He has said he would make such unions too much like marriage, which Lithuania's constitution only allows for one man and one woman.
Simonyte, a former finance minister and fiscal hawk, said Thursday that if she won, “the direction of the country – pro-European, pro-Western – would not change.”
“But I would like faster progress, more openness and understanding, more tolerance towards people who are different from us,” he added.
The president of Lithuania has a semi-executive role, which includes leading the armed forces, chairing the supreme body for defense and national security policy, and representing the country at EU and NATO summits.
The president sets foreign and security policy jointly with the government, can veto laws and has a say in the appointment of key officials such as judges, the chief prosecutor, the head of defense and the head of the central bank.
The uneasy relationship between Nauseda and Simonyte has at times sparked debates about foreign policy, especially over Lithuania's relations with China.
Bilateral ties became strained in 2021, when Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy named after the island, a departure from the common diplomatic practice of using the name of the capital, Taipei, to avoid angering Beijing.
China, which considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory, downgraded diplomatic relations with Vilnius and blocked its exports, prompting some Lithuanian politicians to call for restoring relations for the sake of the economy.
It will be the second time that Nauseda and Simonyte compete in a presidential runoff. In 2019, Nauseda defeated Simonyte with 66 percent of the vote.
