Why Lithuania's ruling party is preparing an alliance with a pro-Putin force

On 21 August, Lithuania’s parliament (the Seimas) began officially debating a new candidate for prime minister.

A vote on appointing Inga Ruginienė to head the government must take place by 26 August. Before then, however, the ruling Lithuanian Social Democratic Party must decide on its coalition partners.

It is highly likely that the new coalition will include an openly pro-Russian party whose representatives have called for lifting sanctions on Russia and Belarus and even for bombing Kyiv.

Read more about how this became possible and whether it threatens Vilnius’s support for Ukraine in the article by Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor: Bomb Kyiv, lift sanctions: why Lithuania’s government is ready for an alliance with friends of Putin.

In late July, Lithuania was shaken by a political scandal when Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas resigned after just seven and a half months in office. The resignation followed a series of corruption scandals involving him and his family, with the final straw being the withdrawal of support by the coalition partner Democratic Union ‘For Lithuania.’

The candidacy of the new prime minister was proposed in a situation where the composition of the coalition remains unknown.

And the only thing that can be stated with certainty for now is that Lithuania’s governing coalition faces a reformatting.

It is worth clarifying: mathematically, the coalition does not require a third participant. The Social Democrats and the populists from Dawn of Nemunas together have 72 mandates, while 71 are needed for a majority.

However, such a majority looks too fragile, and therefore the need for a third participant has not disappeared.

Only one political force has declared such readiness – the party Union of Farmers and Greens of Lithuania.

At present, the reputation of this party is significantly tarnished by the leadership of oligarch Ramūnas Karbauskis.

There is one demand from the Farmers that could cause considerable problems.

After the elections, the parliamentary faction of the Farmers united with deputies from a very peculiar political force, known as the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance.

The problem is that the Electoral Action of Poles is the most pro-Russian political force in Lithuania.

At the moment, its leader Waldemar Tomaszewski insists that if his party joins the coalition, it will only lobby for social initiatives. However, it is highly doubtful that they would remain silent during the discussion of foreign policy issues.

One representative of this party, Zbigniew Jedliński, even called on NATO in 2014 to bomb Kyiv in order to make Ukraine more compliant with Russia’s demands.

It is no coincidence that on 26 August, when the vote on the appointment of the prime minister is expected, a protest called Day of Shame will take place outside the Seimas building.

"The Day of Shame will come when the Social Democrats, once again breaking their word, hand the country over to the Dawn of Nemunas party, led by a slanderer and liar. And to top it off – they will be joined by people obedient to Tomaszewski, a politician who opposes sanctions on Russia and Belarus," the organisers declare.

"I support Ukraine in its struggle until victory. There can be no other way," said Inga Ruginienė immediately after being nominated for the post of prime minister.

However, with such a coalition, fulfilling this promise will not be easy.