| “American Uncle” again became President of Lithuania The second round of the presidential election in Lithuania on Sunday was won by the “American uncle” - 78-year-old Valdas Adamkus. He already served as the President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003. 52.4% of voters voted for Adamkus. 47.6% of voters voted for the “amber lady” who competed with him, ex-Prime Minister Kazimierz Prunskienė.
Adamkus's advantage was ensured by Kaunas, where he was preferred by 69% of voters. Large cities and respectable people who linked their well-being with the West voted for Adamkus. For Prunskiene - the province and dissatisfied voters of leftist or even leftist sentiments. The votes were divided almost equally, which indicates a split in society, which will still make itself felt in the autumn parliamentary elections.
Adamkus’s main trump card was his promise to overcome, with the help of his authority, the “international isolation” of Lithuania after the Paksas scandal. Prunskiene's defeat means the end of hopes for a reorientation of Lithuanian foreign policy from pro-American to pro-European. The Lithuanian right flank, which is losing influence due to the investigation into the circumstances of the American privatization of the Lithuanian oil complex Mazeikiu Nafta, also placed its trust in Adamkus. Adamkus stands firmly on the side of the American company Williams in this story.
Adamkus’ victory will consolidate the country’s right-wing forces (these are centrist liberals and conservatives), but much will depend on how Adamkus’s relationship develops with the new Labor Party of Viktor Uspaskich, the favorite in the autumn parliamentary elections. Unlike Paksas or Prunskienė, the conservative Adamkus does not claim strong presidential power. Therefore, he should get along well with the current left-wing government of the Social Democrats of Algirdas Brazauskas.
Lithuania's relations with Russia would certainly be warmer and deeper if Ms. Prunskienė became president. However, Adamkus is by no means a Russophobe, so a deterioration in relations with Moscow should not be expected. This will be a cautious, but completely civilized policy in the spirit of the academic scheme of “balanced good neighborly relations.”
In 1944, while still a child, Adamkus emigrated to Germany, and since 1949 he lived in the USA. There, from a simple worker, he became director of the Environmental Protection Agency of the 5th Environmental Region of America. He graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology, was a prominent figure among emigrants, and at one time headed the Light of Consent federation, which fought against the “Soviet occupation.” As an ecologist, he visited Moscow more than once through cooperation between the USSR and the USA.
Adamkus returned to Lithuania in 1991 and initially worked as a consultant to the Ministry of Energy. In 1992 he received a Lithuanian passport. Adamkus took his first steps in politics as the head of the campaign headquarters of the former Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States Stasis Lozoraitis, who was fighting for the presidency against Algirdas Brazauskas. In the 1998 presidential elections, he himself defeated the current interim head of state, Arturas Paulauskas, by a margin of 14 thousand votes. But in January 2003, he lost the second round of elections to Rolandas Paksas by an equally devastating result. However, in October last year, the Sejm began an indictment process against Paksas, which ended on March 6 with the first presidential impeachment in Europe, the current early elections and Adamkus’ revenge. Vladimir SKRIPOV, Vilnius |
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