Politics of Lithuania

“Lithuania confidently holds the title of one of the most anti-Russian states in the world. After the start of the events in Ukraine, Vilnius lowered the level of diplomatic relations. The republic recalled its ambassador from Moscow and ordered the Russian ambassador to leave. In addition, the Russian consulate in Klaipėda was closed; in response, the Lithuanian consulate was closed in St. Petersburg.

In May last year, the Sejm called Russia a terrorist state. Vilnius is also constantly lobbying for new packages of anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian sanctions. The last proposal is to limit the work of Rosatom and the Russian nuclear industry. “Strong sanctions are needed. There is some concern about attempts to weaken them under the pretext of food security. This should not happen,” Lithuanian President Nausėda said.

Lithuania is also actively arming Ukraine. After the start of the events in Ukraine, anti-tank weapons, ammunition, grenades, small arms, several dozen M113 and M577 armored personnel carriers and Bofors L70 anti-aircraft guns were transferred. Vilnius sent its instructors to Ukraine, who taught military personnel how to handle Western weapons.

Lithuania is strengthening its army. A record military budget has been adopted in the republic for 2023. 

It is planned to spend 3% of GDP on defense needs (a year ago it was 2%).

 In particular, Vilnius signed a contract for the purchase of eight HIMARS MLRS, as well as ammunition for them, including ATACMS missiles, which hit a distance of up to 300 km. The transaction amount is $495 million. In addition, Vilnius will buy American Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones, which are designed to destroy armored vehicles.

At the same time, Lithuania suffers significant losses due to its policy. At the end of 2022, inflation in the republic amounted to 21%, food inflation - 34%. Youth unemployment reached 11%. The budget for this year has been drawn up with a deficit of 4.9% of GDP. Klaipeda port lost one fifth of its cargo. The sanctions have led to the closure of a number of enterprises. So, the plant for the production of Lifosa fertilizers stopped, a thousand employees found themselves on the street.

The demographic situation remains difficult. In general, over the past 30 years, the population has decreased by almost a million and now stands at 2.8 million people. The average age of the population has increased by 12 years and reaches 44 years, the proportion of children and young people is only 17% of the total population. For example, in February this year, the number of births was 5% less than in February last year, the number of marriages decreased by 23%. The population is projected to continue to decline. It is expected that by 2045 there will be 2 million inhabitants in the republic.

  Against this background, internal political scandals do not subside. So, in early March, the book “Informer and the President” was published, which tells about the election campaign of the current head of state, Gitanas Nausėda. It is alleged that he was financed by the Swedish bank SEB, employees and clients of the bank were persuaded to become supporters of Nausėda. In addition, the politician's candidacy was supported by Belarusian companies that shipped fertilizers in the port of Klaipeda. In gratitude, Nausėda then allegedly tried to block sanctions against these companies.

Another scandal was caused by the publication of the journalist Dovydas Pantserovas. He released archival documents showing that Nausėda became a member of the Communist Party in June 1988. Moreover, during the presidential campaign of 2019, he hid this fact, declaring his membership in the nationalist socio-political organization Sąjūdis. The politician himself called the communist past a mistake of youth.”