Lithuania’s Nauseda eyes re-election in run-off overshadowed by Russia

Incumbent president says he sees Russia as an ‘enemy’ and has accused Moscow of trying to destabilise Vilnius.

Lithuania is holding its presidential election, with incumbent Gitanas Nauseda 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 has also promised to keep the country’s policies pro-European.

The Baltic nation of 2.8 million people has been a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion. Like other countries in the region, the NATO and European Union member worries it could be Moscow’s next target.

Nauseda, 60, a former senior economist with the 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 votes, short of the 50 percent he needed for an outright victory.

He is running against Simonyte, 49, from the governing centre-right Homeland Union party that has been trailing in opinion polls. She was the only woman out of eight candidates in the first round and came second with 20 percent.