Lithuanian Parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas says his decision not to sign a letter supporting US President Donald Trump’s nomination for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was based on a shared regional approach.
“Neither the speakers of the Estonian, Norwegian nor Swedish parliaments signed it,” Olekas told BNS Tuesday. “So this is a regional position.”
He said that was the main argument behind the decision not to support the letter.
By contrast, Latvian Saeima Speaker Daiga Mieriņa signed the appeal.
Olekas said he received the invitation to sign the letter on January 22.
The initiative was launched by US House Speaker Mike Johnson and Israeli Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who called on parliamentary leaders worldwide to nominate Trump for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, arguing he contributed to strengthening Israel’s long-term security and laying the groundwork for peace in the Middle East.
Last week, Polish parliamentary speaker Włodzimierz Czarzasty also rejected the proposal, saying Trump does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.
Czarzasty criticized Trump’s leadership, including his threats last month to impose additional tariffs on European countries and his stated ambition to take control of Greenland. He also condemned Trump’s claims that NATO allies avoided front-line duties during the war in Afghanistan.
Those remarks prompted a response from the US Embassy, which said it would “no longer have any dealings” with the Polish parliamentary speaker over what it called “outrageous and unprovoked insults” toward the US president.
