After intense negotiations after the parliamentary elections in October, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) officially signed a coalition agreement on Monday with the Democrats For Lithuania and the Dawn of Nemunas party, which has been accused of antisemitism. The decision to invite the Dawn of Nemunas to join the coalition has sparked criticism within Lithuania and internationally. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda described bringing Dawn of Nemunas into the coalition as a mistake. Additionally, German social democrats have voiced their discontent and harsh criticism regarding the LSDP’s decision. However, Gintautas Paluckas, the Social Democrat candidate for prime minister, insists that the future government and ruling majority will not include antisemites.
An “unholy coalition”?
Last October’s general elections radically changed the political landscape in Lithuania, leading to a net defeat of the parties of the 2020 government coalition and the signing of the coalition agreement for a new government on 11 November. The PES-member LSDP arrived first with 19.32%, 52 seats at Seimas (the Parliament), electing 39 new MPs. The leading party of the former coalition, the EPP-member Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), led by the foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, suffered a severe defeat, arriving second with 18%, 28 seats and losing 22 MPs.
In total, Lithuanian citizens elected nine parties at Seimas. A fact that allowed more flexibility in negotiations and could offer more options for a coalition. In the 141-seat Seimas, 71 MPs are enough for a majority. However, the Social Democrats decided to pick as partners two parties that derived from splits and participated in the elections for the first time. The Union of Democrats “For Lithuania” (DSVL), founded in 2022 by former Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis, obtained 9.22% and won 14 seats. Although conservative, the party is a member of the European Green Party. The fact that the party emerged after a split in the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, now a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), blocks any possibility of cooperation between the two parties.
However, the problem most critical problem of the new coalition is the identity of the third partner, the antisemitic and far-right Down of Nemunas (NA), which arrived third with 14.97% and 20 MPs. Its leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, is accused of antisemitism. He founded the NA after he was expelled from the conservative and Eurosceptic Freedom and Justice (LT) party for making antisemitic statements. In May 2023, Žemaitaitis published antisemitic comments on Facebook, claiming that “the Jews and Russians” oppressed ethnic Lithuanians during the Second World War and were responsible for the 1944 massacre of the village of Pirčiupiai.
Lithuanian politicians, the Lithuanian Jewish community, and numerous ambassadors to Lithuania harshly criticised these comments. The office of the Prosecutor General launched an ongoing investigation into Žemaitaitis’ actions, accusing him of inciting hatred towards the Jewish people. In addition, on 3 September 2024, he stated that he is waiting for the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will sentenced to death for his actions against Palestinians. Foreign diplomats and politicians have also reacted to the Dawn of Nemunas gaining power in Lithuania.
President Nausėda calls the invitation to Nemunas a mistake
The decision of the LSDP to include the antisemitic party in the coalition provoked severe criticism. President Gitanas Nausėda described the LSDP coalition with the Dawn of Nemunas as a mistake.
“I tried to explain what problems this coalition might face. I think a mistake was made, and in coming weeks, the coalition will have to keep proving that it was not a mistake,” Nausėda told reporters on Monday.
The President has vowed not to appoint any ministerial candidates nominated by the Dawn of Nemunas party. According to Nausėda, he informed the leaders of the LSDP that the Dawn of Nemunas should refrain from proposing its members for ministerial positions, as he would not consider their nominations. Instead, he suggested that the party might put forward “technocratic candidates.”
“I am not sure what self-respecting people would like to associate themselves with the other party’s leader. If there are such, we will discuss,” President Nausėda told media.
Additionally, the President noted that implementing the coalition agreement while forming the government could be challenging.
On Thursday, a rally titled “Ten Minutes of Silence” will occur outside the parliament building to protest the coalition with the Dawn of Nemunas.
Former president Dalia Grybauskaitė is among the critics of the new coalition.
“I CALL ON THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS TO WAKE UP,” the former President wrote on her Facebook account.
“I have always valued the Social Democratic Party as the party of fundamentally responsible politicians. Unfortunately, I cannot evaluate the current coalition any other way than the coalition of the Kremlin flavour with the spice of fascist autumn shirts. Do the Social Democrats really agree to be included in such government formation chains?” emphasised Grybauskaitė.
“Such a coalition is already doing irreparable reputational damage in the eyes of our partners, EU and NATO. State interests and the security of Lithuania in the current geopolitical environment must be the main arguments for forming the governing coalition. And there are even a few of those choices. Don’t turn your impressive election victory into ashes before you start working,” urged Grybauskaitė.
In addition, the Chair of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth, a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, condemned the LSDP coalition with Dawn of Nemunas.
“It is a disgrace that social democrats in Lithuania are allying with an anti-semitic, homophobic, nationalist party. Social democracy is always and everywhere committed to freedom, human rights and dignity for all,” he stated in a message on X on Monday. Deputy Chairman of the LSDP and Prime Minister-designate Gintautas Paluckas dismissed the criticism, saying that the programme of the Dawn of Nemunas does not contain antisemitic views.
A far-right party that instigates violence
Despite anti-semitic, homophobic, and nationalist views, the Dawn of Nemunas instigates people to acts of intimidation. Lithuanian police opened a pre-trial investigation after Žemaitaitis, called people to protest near the home of Vytautas Landsbergis, aged 92, the first de facto head of state since the restoration of Lithuania’s independence in 1990.
According to a report arrived to the police in Vilnius, a post published on Facebook by Remigijus Žemaitaitis may incite hatred. On Sunday, Žemaitaitis expressed his displeasure that a rally named “Ten Minutes of Silence” would occur near the parliament building on Thursday, opposing the Dawn of Nemunas’s inclusion in the ruling coalition. He accused the TS-LKD party of organising the protest and referred to them as “Lithuania’s Hamas.”
The Prosecutor General’s Office has instructed the Vilnius County Police Headquarters to determine whether an investigation should be initiated based on these statements, as they could potentially violate the law. However, on Monday, the leader of the Dawn of Nemunas denied having urged anyone to protest near the residence of Vytautas Landsbergis.”
Take as big candles and as many because every candle will remind the professor [Vytautas Landsbergis] about the crimes committed by his criminal gang against Lithuania,” Žemaitaitis wrote about the former leader of the TS-LKD and de facto first President of Lithuania.
