Lithuania: President Nausėda re-elected with landslide
Gitanas Nausėda has won a clear victory in the run-off presidential election in Lithuania with 74.43 percent of the vote, thus securing a second term in office. His rival Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė had just 24.26 percent of the vote. No presidential candidate has ever secured a higher percentage in a run-off vote. Commentators discuss what lies ahead for the popular president.
Success as his mandate
LRT columnist Paulius Gritėnas observes:
“During his first term in office Nausėda took a principled stance on foreign policy issues. He consolidated his role in the political arena and won the respect of political parties. At the same time, he wanted to be loved. This desire often overshadowed the need to listen to criticism, rethink tactics and strategy and explain concepts and positions. ... Nausėda's second term opens up several alternatives. ... But it all depends on whether he chooses to secure the public's affection any way he can or to take the difficult and sometimes unpopular path of leadership, which requires complex decisions.”
The West should listen
The reasons for the re-election of this vehement Kyiv supporter are obvious to the taz:
“Against the backdrop of painful historical experiences, Lithuania and the other Baltic states, Estonia and Latvia, but also Poland for example, feel particularly threatened by Russia ... They in particular have increasingly become the target of hybrid war attacks by the Kremlin - be it the instrumentalisation of migrants smuggled across the border or abstruse mind games about shifting borders in the Baltic Sea. Not recognising these realities is a sign of ignorance and arrogance. Countries like Lithuania don't need to be lectured about Russia. They need to be listened to instead.”
Popularity for the unpopular
Political scientist Ramūnas Vilpišauskas describes in 15min the issues the re-elected president must deal with:
“Nausėda is likely to test the stability of the current coalition and the prime minister. However, with parliamentary elections just around the corner it is unlikely that any major changes will be made. ... One wonders, however, whether Nausėda, who no longer has to worry about his re-election, will try to use his popularity to initiate potentially unpopular but necessary policy changes in Lithuania, such as a tax reform for sustainable defence funding, which the new ruling coalition is likely to tackle after the parliamentary elections.”