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