Gitanas Nausèda, the president of Lithuania who hates Putin, but wants to win back China

In the third year of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Nausėda, a 59-year-old independent candidate, seeks to convince Lithuanians to grant him a second term five years at a time of extreme tension with Moscow. Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors, Latvia and Estonia, have distrusted the Kremlin since their independence in 1991. However, the invasion of Ukraine has unleashed all the alarms in the population.

Across the region, voters fear that the Baltic countries, once governed from Moscow but now members of NATO and the European Union, could be targets of Russian aggression. According to an ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai survey conducted in March 2024, something more than half of Lithuanians believe that a Russian attack is “possible or even very likely”. Lithuanian intelligence services also reported in March that Russia was bolstering its capabilities along its border with NATO, although the Kremlin has regularly rejected Western suggestions that it might consider an attack on a member of the North Atlantic Alliance.

[Un paseo por la ‘fortaleza subterránea’ de Finlandia: los 50.500 refugios ya listos para una guerra nuclear]

Meanwhile, most of the candidates running in the presidential elections, including Nausėda and Ingrida Šimonytė, the country’s prime minister, have stated that They keep food reserves in their homes in case a military conflict occurs, something that many Lithuanians have also done in recent months. “I’m doing everything I can to make sure it’s not necessary,” Nausèda declared during a televised debate earlier this week.

Under his leadership, Lithuania has increased military spending and has sought to diversify its energy sources, reducing dependence on Russian gas and oil. Committed to protecting his country and its NATO allies from any threat, Nausėda has cemented his image as a tireless defender of national security, especially in the face of the Russian threat.

In statements to the press last Sunday, Nausèda promised continue to pressure the country’s Western allies to increase their military support for Ukraine. “The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has already said it all. They don’t need our declarations of good will, they are of no use in combat: they need air defenses… Until they have air defenses, Ukraine will remain vulnerable,” he stated.

Increasing defense spending is a cause supported by both Nausėda and Šimonytė. Both advocate increase defense spending until it reaches at least 3% of gross domestic product Lithuanian, exceeding the 2.75% expected for this year. The objective of this increase is to support the presence of a brigade of German troops, together with their families, who will be deployed in Lithuania and ready for combat from 2027.

Precisely, one of Nausėda’s notable victories has been his agreement with German Chancellor Scholz to establish a permanent brigade of up to 5,000 German soldiers in Lithuania, the largest foreign deployment in the nation. The first German team arrived last month and there are already expansion plans for the next three years. As the country’s president, Nausėda plays a semi-executive role, leading the armed forces and chairing the supreme body of defense and national security policy, as well as representing Lithuania at key European Union and NATO summits.

A turbulent relationship with China

At that time, the president maintained that the center-right government had not consulted him about the movement. Beijing accused Vilnius of failing to comply with the “one China” policy, under which it does not allow other countries to treat Taiwan as an independent country. For Nausėda, as reported Bloomberg, the decision to allow Taiwan to open an embassy de facto it was a big mistake.

[El ministro de Defensa estonio: “¿Estáis listos para defender a Estonia? Nosotros a España, sí”]

The president has adopted a much less belligerent stance towards China than Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who called in early May to create a coalition of nations to fight against the Asian giant’s “economic coercion.” Nausėda, on the other hand, He asked to reduce tension by changing the name of the Taiwan Representative Office. “The name adjustment could serve as a signal from Lithuania towards normalizing diplomatic relations with China,” she said.

Nausėda’s proposal, however, contrasts with his recent comments, in which he called China a “threat” due to its alignment with Russia. In March of last year, the Lithuanian leader criticized Beijing’s position in the war in Ukraine and accused Xi Jinping’s government of supporting the Kremlin in a “hidden or open way.” “Until now, I evaluate and see the China’s role as more destructive than constructive“, said.

Headed for a second term

Nausèda, of a moderate conservative nature, obtained the 44% of the votes issued, according to data from the electoral commission, remaining below the 50% necessary to ensure re-election in the first round held on May 12. On May 26, a second round will be held against Šimonytė, second with 20% of the votes.

In 2019, Šimonytė narrowly defeated Nausèda in the first round of the presidential election. However, Nauseda won the second round with 66% of the votes.