MARIUS LAURINAVIČIUS, SENIOR ANALYST
28/05/2019

Marius Laurinavicius, a senior analyst at the Vilnius Institute for Political Analysis, told Charter97.org, commenting on Gitanas Nausėda’s election as president of Lithuania.

– How do you evaluate the results of the presidential election in Lithuania? What does Nausėda’s victory indicate?

The prevailing opinion in Lithuania is that there was no significant difference between the two candidates in the second round. Therefore, there was no sharp confrontation between the two electoral groups. Although the gap between the candidates was quite significant in the second round. But neither winning nor losing moods are felt in society.

Even those who voted for Ingrida Šimonytė were satisfied because a pro-European candidate who adheres to the values cherished by the majority of Lithuanian citizens won the election.

It can be said that optimism about the newly elected president prevails in Lithuanian society, and there are no negative sentiments even among those who voted for Gitanas Nausėda’s opponent.

I think that the main result and the main feature of this victory is the growth of political optimism in the country.

– What can be the policy of the newly elected president towards Belarus? Will the principal positions of the predecessor in relation to Lukashenka’s regime remain?

We need to mention two different positions of Dalia Grybauskaitė, who started her first cadence trying to build a relationship with Lukashenka’s regime. But it didn’t work and Lithuania’s policy changed, and in the future remained principled.

As for Gitanas Nausėda, I’d like to note: there are no circumstances that would suggest that the newly elected president of Lithuania would somehow change his policy towards the Belarusian regime.

In all the debates he was principled about Lukashenka’s regime as well. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that he will pursue the same principled policy. I would not expect any radical changes.

– What about Lithuania’s position on BelNPP?

As far as one can judge by the statements of the newly elected president, the principled position is inevitable, and Lithuania’s policy will remain unchanged.

This article can also be found on: charter97.org