On 11 November, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania signed a coalition agreement including the Nemunas Dawn party, which placed third in the October parliamentary elections. In April, the Constitutional Court found the Nemunas Dawn party’s leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, violated the Constitution over antisemitic public statements. He resigned from Parliament in April rather than face an impeachment vote and is currently being investigated for inciting hatred against Jewish people. Thousands of people demonstrated in Vilnius, calling for zero tolerance to antisemitism. In parallel, 30 civil society organisations signed an open letter calling for Nemunas Dawn to be left out of the new coalition, initiated by the European Movement and the Lithuanian Center for Human Rights.  

Sources: International IDEA, LRT (1), LRT (2), Reuters, JURIST, Constitutional Court 

Lithuania held legislative elections for the 141-seat Seimas, with the first round on 13 October and a run-off on 27 October. The Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won 52 seats (19.3 per cent of the vote share), surpassing the incumbent Homeland Union-Christian Democrats of Lithuania (TS-LKD), which secured 28 seats (18.0 per cent of the vote). The Nemunas Dawn party came in third with 20 seats (15.0 per cent of the vote). Voter turnout was 52.18 per cent in the first round and 41.41 per cent in the run-off, up from 47.80 per cent (first round) and 39.24 per cent (run-off) in the 2020 elections. Women’s representation in the new legislature fell from 29.3 per cent to 27.7 per cent. 

Sources: IFES, IPU, VRK, LRT (1), LRT (2), International IDEA, Made in Vilnius, Politico 

On 26 May, the incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda (Independent) was re-elected for a second five-year term in a run-off against Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė of the centre-right Homeland Union party (Tėvynės sąjunga-Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai). Nausėda, a former economist at a multinational bank, won the presidential elections in a landslide with 74.2 per cent of the vote. Šimonytė came second with 24.3 per cent, and was the only female among the total eight presidential candidates. The voter turnout in the run-off was 49.7 per cent, whereas in the first round of voting on 12 May it stood at nearly 60 per cent. The two candidates also faced each other in a run-off in the 2019 presidential elections.

In a referendum held on 12 May parallel to the elections, a constitutional amendment to allow Lithuanians to hold dual citizenship failed to pass. Though 74.5 per cent of those who voted approved the change, voter turnout was not sufficiently high to meet the constitutional requirement that at least half of the total Lithuanian electorate must agree. Voter turnout in the referendum was 59.5 per cent.

Sources: VRK (1), VRK (2), LRT (1), LRT (2), Al Jazeera, Euractiv, ConstitutionNet

On 18 April, Parliament passed amendments to the law on the legal status of victims of the occupations between 1939-1990. According to the law, the Genocide and Resistance Research Center, under the oversight of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, is responsible for issuing legal status certificates to people repressed for political reasons, political prisoners, exiles and people displaced under the occupation regimes of Nazi Germany and later the Soviet Union. The amendments expand the grounds for the families of former political prisoners and exiles to be recognized as victims of the occupation, making around 400 additional people eligible to receive state support, including an additional state pension for victims on top of their regular social insurance pension.  

Sources: Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas, Jurbarkas, Teises Aktu Registras, LRT, Ministry of Social Security and Labour

Parliament voted to approve the findings of a temporary parliamentary inquiry commission, which determined the State Security Department (VSD) aided the 2019 election campaign of President Gitanas Nausėda by gathering intelligence on Nausėda’s team members, election staff and supporters. The findings were approved with 64 votes in favour and 44 against. The commission was established in October 2023 to investigate a whistleblower report by a former VSD employee. The inquiry further found Nausėda obstructed the Parliament from carrying out its functions by refusing to testify and found state authorities, including the VSD and the General Prosecutor’s Office, failed to adequately protect the whistleblower’s identity. Nausėda has said that the parliamentary inquiry was designed to discredit him ahead of the May Presidential elections. The report contains proposals for election financing and the protection of whistleblowers’ rights.

Sources: Delfi (1), Delfi (2), Delfi (3), Seimas (1), Seimas (2), LRT (1), LRT (2)

Parliament adopted amendments to the procedure for accommodating asylum seekers with 72 votes in favour, four against and 20 abstentions. In June 2023, the Constitutional Court annulled provisions specifying that asylum seekers should be held in temporary accommodation facilities, without the right to move freely within Lithuania, pending a decision on their asylum application. The amendments seek to address the concerns raised in the ruling, by providing that the individual circumstances of asylum seekers must be considered in the decision for accommodation. The changes specify that the right to free movement cannot be restricted, except for in certain circumstances, to be evaluated on an individual basis, but never for a period exceeding 28 days. The amendments provide for the possibility of appeal within 14 days of receiving the accommodation decision and specify conditions for temporary departures from the accommodation territory.

Sources: Seimas, Register of Legal Acts (1), Register of Legal Acts (2), Constitutional Court, International IDEA

Parliament voted to approve electoral amendments introducing the requirement for candidates to disclose whether they were formerly members of the Communist Party (CPSU), which was banned after Lithuania regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Previously, reporting of past political affiliations via the Central Electoral Commission’s candidate questionnaire had been optional. The amendments passed with 110 votes in favour and one abstention, and follow revelations uncovered by media that President Gitanas Nausėda and at least 18 sitting MPs had formerly been members of the party without reporting this affiliation. Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė called failure to disclose previous affiliations a “mistake”, and observers noted potential adverse impacts on public trust. A parallel proposal, put forward by the conservative Homeland Union party, was rejected, and would have required candidates to declare their Communist Party membership on campaign posters.

Sources: LRT (1), LRT (2), LRT (3), Baltic News Network, 15min

Prominent Belarusian activist Olga Karach has said she was denied asylum by Lithuanian authorities, who claimed Karach poses a threat to Lithuanian national security. Karach leads Our House (Nash Dom), a Belarusian human rights NGO, founded in Belarus in 2002 but relocated to Lithuania in 2014. The NGO has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for its support to Belarusians living in Lithuania and across Europe. In its decision, the Migration Department cited allegations by Lithuania’s State Security Department (Valstybės saugumo departamentas, VSD) that Karach has ties to Russian intelligence services - allegations which Karach has denied. Belarus has considered Karach a terrorist since September 2021 and has declared Nash Dom an extremist organisation. Karach has filed a complaint with the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court for lengthy processing of her asylum request in violation of her rights. Lithuanian law requires asylum requests to be processed at the latest within six months of submission, while her case took almost a year.

Sources: LRT (1), LRT (2), LRT (3), LRT (4), Baltic Times, Our House

On 7 June, the Constitutional Court ruled that provisions of a law passed in July 2021 that require asylum seekers to be temporarily held in specified places (such as State Border Guard Service centres) are unconstitutional. The provisions allow asylum seekers to be held for a period of up to six months under a state of emergency while their asylum claims are being processed. The Constitutional Court found that the provisions contradicted Article 20 of Lithuania’s Constitution, which establishes protection against arbitrary detention or arrest and against unlawful restrictions on freedom of movement. It also noted a failure to individually assess a migrant’s circumstances and the absence of due process. The Court of Justice of the European Union had previously ruled in June 2022 that the general detention of asylum seekers without right of appeal violated EU law.

Sources: Reuters, LRT (1), LRT (2), LRT (3), Civil Liberties Union for Europe, Lithuanian Constitutional Court, Court of Justice of the European Union

Municipal council members have been accused of abusing expense claims based on recently published expense reports. Municipal councils have been criticised for lax expense reimbursement policies, including a failure to request that expense claims are substantiated by receipts. Three cabinet members were accused of misusing expense claims while working as municipal councillors, leading to the resignation of Education Minister Jurgita Siugzdiniene, who had previously served on Kaunas Council. The Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) party of the centre-right ruling coalition has called for snap elections. Opposition parties have in turn called for the governing coalition to resign. 

Sources: Intellinews, Lrytas, Reuters