Aurelijus Veryga, Lithuania’s former health minister and now a member of the European Parliament, has been elected the new leader of the Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS). He says the party is moving “in the right direction” and can become a serious European-level force.
“We are moving in the right direction, and I think we have really outgrown the regional, national shoes and I think we can aspire to become a serious European-level party,” the politician told reporters at the party’s convention in Palanga on Saturday.
Veryga was elected the party’s chairman after Ramūnas Karbauskis, an agriculture businessman who has led the LVŽS on and off since 1997, announced his decision not to seek re-election.
Meanwhile, six other candidates dropped their bids.
Veryga will lead the party for the next four years.
The politician was elected to the European Parliament last June. Previously, he headed Lithuania’s Health Ministry between 2016–2020 and served several terms as an MP.
Last year, the LVŽS won eight seats in the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas. However, its political group grew to 11 members after representatives of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance joined it.
A Spinter Tyrimai poll for Delfi.lt from January showed that the party is favoured by 6.1 percent of the population.
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