LRT English Newsletter – May 31, 2024
Lithuania has decided – Gitanas Nausėda will lead the country for five more years. Few expected a different outcome of the country’s presidential election, as the incumbent had been dominating the opinion polls long in advance.
The only intrigue was whether Nausėda would score the easiest-ever election victory. Spoiler: he did after receiving more than 74 percent of the votes – the highest in the history of presidential run-offs in Lithuania.
His rival Ingrida Šimonytė said this was not the end of the world and vowed to continue her work as prime minister. Her current post prevented her from gaining popularity ahead of the presidential election, the politician believes. But Nausėda’s landslide victory was in part determined by the unpopularity of the ruling conservatives, represented by Šimonytė in the election, political analysts point out.
Now that he has some experience, the president has promised to be more decisive in achieving the set goals in his second term. (Recall, Nausėda entered the presidential race as an economist with zero political experience in 2019.)
Among his second-term goals and priorities, the president mentioned the continued focus on defence and security (he even said he’d veto a state budget with less than 3 percent of GDP earmarked for defence), support for Ukraine, and implementation of his long-promised welfare state policies.
RUSSIA(N) AND BELARUS(IAN)
Other than that, we’ve been experiencing a bit of a post-election slowdown news-wise. However, Lithuania continues to try to make things a tad more complicated for Russia and Belarus, as well as for the countries’ citizens.
This week, the Lithuanian government approved a list of more than 2,800 Russian and Belarusian products that will be banned for imports as of June. Meanwhile, all weapon permits issued to Russian and Belarusian citizens living in Lithuania have now been revoked.
The majority of Lithuanians also say they do not miss Russian TV following its ban in the country, but 14 percent still find ways to watch it.
ECONOMY NEWS:
– Lithuania is persistently looking for ways to finance its planned higher defence spending. We’ve already reported on the Finance Ministry’s proposal to do so by hiking corporate and excise duty taxes, as well as taxing some insurance contracts. Added to the mix is the extension of the bank solidarity levy on windfall profits. The measure is yet to be approved by the parliament, but banks already say it is breaking the promise that the levy will be “temporary”.
– Meanwhile, the shadow economy – the share of unpaid value added tax – is shrinking at a record pace in Lithuania. At least 238 million euros in additional budget revenue were “pulled out” of the shadow in 2023, according to the Finance Ministry.
– The minimum wage before tax should be 1,070 euros in Lithuania, the central bank estimates. The country’s government, employers, and trade unions will now decide whether they find it feasible.
EDITOR’S PICKS
– Inviting Ukraine to join NATO is meaningless. It’s “much better to say under what conditions we will all agree to move forward”, says former US ambassador to NATO in an interview with LRT.lt.
– Hearing more Russian language in the streets of Lithuanian towns makes some locals uncomfortable. Why so?
– Vilnius Cathedral is one of the city’s icons and its calling card. But who will pay for renovating its distressed façade?
– If you find yourself in Vilnius this weekend, don’t miss the chance to indulge in all things pink at this year’s Pink Soup Festival.
Written by Ieva Žvinakytė
Edited by Benas Gerdžiūnas
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