Vilnius, Lithuania — Lithuania on Wednesday defended its decision not to allow Russian and Belarusian observers to follow its upcoming presidential election, accusing both countries of leading campaigns that “represent a threat to our national security.”
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (which includes Lithuania, Russia and Belarus) typically sends multinational teams of observers to observe elections in its 57 member states.
Sunday’s elections come as Russia is making gains on the Ukrainian battlefield, where the war has entered its third year, fueling fears across Europe and especially in the strategically important Baltic region about Russia’s intentions. from Moscow.
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that the country had invited OSCE observers to monitor the elections “except for the aggressor Russia and its supporter Belarus” and accused them of being a threat to political processes and elections of the Baltic nation.
It also called on the OSCE to reconsider the continued membership of “countries that most flagrantly violate international law and human rights and carry out aggression against Ukraine.”
Last month, the OSCE announced it would not send any observers following Lithuania’s decision. It said in a statement that excluding nationalities from the invitation was against the rules of equal treatment of all member states and “in violation of the commitments made by all OSCE participating States.”
However, the OSCE expressed “full confidence” in Lithuania’s electoral process, while noting the “value of an independent external evaluation.”
In the election, popular incumbent Gitanas Nausėda is the favorite to win another five-year term, competing against seven other candidates. If no one obtains the minimum of 50% of the votes, a second round will be held on May 26.
The president of Lithuania oversees foreign and security policy and is the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Among the 2,000 observers expected to monitor the vote are 20 international observers from Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine and Moldova, as well as representatives from the United States Electoral Assistance Fund and the office of the International Fund for Electoral Systems (IFES). in Ukraine. .
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