Abstract
This chapter explores the main trends of the European Parliament (EP) elections in Lithuania since its entry to the EU in 2004. The focus lies on the most recent poll in 2019. Despite the Eurosceptic actors gradually becoming more vocal, European issues have largely remained out of direct party competition. As previously, the Eurosceptic candidates performed badly in 2019. Moreover, the main contestants adopted even more pro-European manifestos than before. Two factors are singled out to account for such firm allegiance to the EU in the country. Firstly, both parties and voters largely treat European integration as an essential security guarantee in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment. Secondly, the main parties across the political spectrum underwent structural and generational changes that also strengthened their pro-European character, while relevant Eurosceptic forces failed to overcome their fragmentation and marginalization.
The research is funded by the European Social Fund under the No 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-02-0165 “Development of Competences of Scientists, other Researchers and Students through Practical Research Activities” measure.
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Notes
- 1.
This is not the case, however, regarding the operation of the parties and election committees. The rules of financing, for example, are less strict for the election committees, which remains a controversial issue in Lithuania.
- 2.
In a survey carried out in 1992, 64 per cent of Lithuanian respondents were in favour of joining the European Community (INRA 1993).
- 3.
Formerly called the Nationalist Union (Tautininkų sąjunga). In its current form the party was established in 2017, when the Republican Party, another Eurosceptic party, joined the Nationalist Union.
- 4.
Previously known as the National Centre Party (Nacionalinė centro partija).
- 5.
Ozolas was an important player in the Lithuanian independence movement (1988–1990) and later became better known for his openly anti-EU rhetoric. Just before the referendum on Lithuanian membership in the EU, Ozolas argued against joining the EU, describing membership in the EU as a loss of Lithuanian independence (Ozolas 2005).
- 6.
Previously, the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalų demokratų partija).
- 7.
Previously known as the Lithuanian Peasants Party (Lietuvos valstiečių partija), the Peasants and New Democratic Party Union (Valstiečių ir Naujosios demokratijos partijų sąjunga), the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union (Lietuvos valstečių liaudininkų sąjunga) and the Lithuanian Peasant and Greens Union (Lietuvos valstiečių ir žaliųjų sąjunga).
- 8.
Since 2016, its official name has been the Lithuanian Polish Electoral Action – Christian Families’ Union (Lietuvos lenkų rinkimų akcija – Krikščioniškų šeimų sąjunga, LLRA-KŠS). In EP elections in 2004, it also ran a joint list with the Lithuanian Russian Union (Lietuvos rusų sąjunga), and since 2014 with the Russian Alliance (Rusų aljansas).
- 9.
Only in Latvia was the average voter turnout in elections to the EP from 2004 to 2014 a bit higher (41.8 per cent).
- 10.
However, just months after the EP elections, the Lithuanian Polish Electoral Action (LPEA), represented in the EP by its chair Valdemar Tomaševski, announced that they were leaving the government headed by Algirdas Butkevičius (LSDP).
- 11.
The rest of the MPs are elected in 71 single-mandate districts.
- 12.
This party was formed in mid-2018, when a group of LSDP MPs, including their two former leaders and Prime Ministers Kirkilas and Butkevičius, left the party after they rejected the decision by an internal party referendum to withdraw from the governing coalition.
- 13.
According to the Flash Eurobarometer survey published in November 2018, only 42 per cent of Lithuanians thought that having the Euro was a good thing for Lithuania—the lowest share across the Eurozone.
- 14.
This number closely corresponds to the actual share of Eurosceptics in Lithuania. According to the 2019 Spring Eurobarometer, Lithuanian withdrawal from the EU was supported by around 9 per cent of Lithuanian voters (European Parliament 2019).
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Gudžinskas, L., Bekišas, T. (2020). Lithuania. In: Hloušek, V., Kaniok, P. (eds) The European Parliament Election of 2019 in East-Central Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40858-9_8
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