Laurynas Kasčiūnas, a 43-year-old MP elected as the new chairman of the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) with nearly 80 percent of the vote, believes the results of Sunday’s vote indicate a clear need for change within the conservative party.
“I think we’ve definitely mobilized voters, but this also shows there’s a need for change, a need for a new chapter, while keeping what’s really good and firmly established as our foundation,” the former defence minister told BNS on Sunday evening.
“We’ll protect and even grow all this when it comes to statehood, our defence, and democracy. But alongside that, we'll have to turn a new page and travel around Lithuania, strengthen our positions in major cities and reclaim lost ground in some of them, and reach out to people in the regions. I’m fully committed to doing that with great energy,” he added.
On his Facebook page, Kasčiūnas pledged to lead the TS-LKD with openness and dialogue with the public.
“We will strive to be a party worthy of the trust of all the people of Lithuania, and we will bring together the brightest minds for the country's strategic goals,” he wrote.
Speaking to BNS, the politician said he aims to strike a balance between modernity and tradition within the party.
“We’ll preserve what’s good solid, and has stood the test of time, and what inspires us from the Sąjūdis movement and the fight for freedom. All of this needs to be combined with fresh energy, creating a harmony between modernity and respect for tradition,” he said.
In the open TS-LKD leadership election, 13,488 party members and supporters – 78 percent of all who took part in the vote – backed Kasčiūnas.
He will lead Lithuania’s largest opposition party, which holds 28 seats in the parliament, for the next four years. He will assume office after the party’s congress in March.
The leadership election was moved forward after former Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis stepped down from the post following the party’s defeat in last October’s parliamentary election. Landsbergis had led the conservatives for nearly a decade.
Kasčiūnas, a graduate of Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science with a doctorate in social sciences, has been a member of the TS-LKD since 2011.
Between 2000 and 2002, he was a member of the far-right Lithuanian National Democratic Party, a fact that continues to attract controversy and criticism.
Kasčiūnas served as defence minister for less than a year in 2024. The then Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė dismissed Arvydas Anušauskas and appointed Kasciunas, saying the defence sector needed a more proactive approach.
Before becoming minister, Kasčiūnas chaired the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence.
Kasčiūnas has been a member of parliament since 2016 and is currently serving his third term. Previously, he headed the Eastern Europe Studies Centre think tank (now the Geopolitics and Security Studies Centre), worked as a foreign policy adviser to the then parliamentary speaker Irena Degutienė, and a lecturer at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science.
A father of four, Kasčiūnas has identified his key priorities as fostering national identity, upholding Christian values, and strengthening Lithuania’s statehood.
Further reading
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
