On Sunday, Gitanas Nausėda secured a second five-year term as Lithuanian president after receiving 74.43 percent of the votes in the election run-off.
“The people of Lithuania have given me a great mandate of trust and I am well aware that I will have to cherish this credit of trust,” he told journalists in Vilnius.
“Now that I have five years of experience, I believe that I will be able to use this jewel in a proper way, first and foremost to achieve the goals of prosperity for all the people of Lithuania,” he added.
Nausėda, who ran as an independent candidate, said he will continue to focus on the welfare state during his second term as the head of state. He also stressed foreign policy and security as two important areas of focus.
On Sunday, Nausėda and Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė faced off in Lithuania’s presidential election run-off.
Before all the votes were counted, Šimonytė conceded defeat to the incumbent Nausėda.
“I would like to congratulate the president-elect of Lithuania,” Šimonytė, the candidate of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, told journalists.
Šimonytė said she will return to work as prime minister on Monday. According to her, her current post did not help her while campaigning in the presidential election.
Nausėda has received the highest-ever support in the history of presidential run-offs in Lithuania.
In 2019, 65.68 percent of voters voted for Nausėda in the presidential run-off, while Dalia Grybauskaitė received 69.09 percent of the votes in 2009.
Lithuania’s Constitution prevents a person from being elected president more than twice in a row. Nausėda will be sworn in for a new five-year term in July.
According to the figures from the Central Electoral Commission (VRK), 49.61 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the presidential election run-off on Sunday.
Five years ago, the turnout in the presidential election run-off stood at 53.43 percent.
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