Lithuanian President Nausėda secures second term in landslide win

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda secured a second five-year term with a landslide win in a run-off election held in the Baltic nation on Sunday.

Nausėda won 75% of the vote after ballots from 90% of districts were counted, the electoral commission said.

This gave Nausėda an unassailable lead over his rival, current Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. She conceded defeat and congratulated Nausėda on Sunday evening.

"I would like to thank the Lithuanian people for their support," said Nausėda at his election party. He said he had been given a "great mandate of trust" and thanked Šimonytė for a principled election campaign.

Lithuania, which borders the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's close ally Belarus, saw just under half of its roughly 2.4 million eligible voters cast ballots before polling stations closed at 8 pm (1700 GMT), electoral officials said.

This means that turnout was significantly lower than in the first round on May 12, when Nausėda got the largest share of votes by a wide margin, but not enough to achieve the absolute majority needed to win outright.

The two politicians had also gone head-to-head for the presidency in 2019.

Lithuanians had widely expected the 60-year-old economist, who has made a name for himself as a staunch supporter of Ukraine, to come out on top again for a second term.

Šimonytė, also a trained economist, has been prime minister since 2020. On many issues - particularly foreign and security policy - the two politicians share nearly identical positions.

They differ on issues such as the right to abortion and the recognition of same-sex partnerships. Šimonytė, 49, takes a more liberal stance than Nausėda in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.

The presidency is the top job in the Baltic country, and the office represents the country abroad, including at EU summits, and is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.