Dear President,
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas and the dissolution of the 19th Government, we invite you to consider the political choices ahead thoughtfully: the illusion of stability or the correction of political mistakes.
Both you and representatives of your coalition partners called Nemuno Aušra's invitation to join the majority a mistake. The time has come to decide whether to seize this opportunity to rectify the mistake or to remain in it for the sake of convenience and the illusion of stability.
We hope you will take a principled stance and not yield to forces that are working against the fundamental values of our state, against the Constitution, against our Western orientation, and our dignity in the international community.
Today's challenges require a principled stance, not tactical silence and compromise. Therefore, it must be stated clearly and without hesitation that Nemuno Aušra's participation in Government, directly or indirectly, poses a serious threat to Lithuanian democracy, international authority, and national security. The mere fact that a person who publicly made anti-Semitic statements, for which the Constitutional Court found him guilty of gross violation of the Constitution, continued to serve as a member of the Seimas for some time should have been a signal that our democracy has deep wounds and that political cynicism is becoming dangerously tolerated.
At the end of 2024, we saw how the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, guided by a supposed logic of stability, chose to enter into a coalition with the very party whose leader is undermining that stability from within – disparaging the principles of the rule of law, questioning Lithuania's strategic choice to align itself with the West, and seeking to sow distrust in the country's defence. During its months in power, this political force has repeatedly demonstrated its pro-Kremlin stance and attacked initiatives in the areas of defence, energy, and the expansion of international sanctions. Supporting the fate of the party led by Žemaitaitis in the coalition is tantamount to supporting his disparaging statements about Ukraine, which is fighting for the freedom of all Europe, claiming that the only reason to go to Ukraine is to learn „bribery, corruption, arms sales, and the sale of the state.“
Failing to take advantage of this opportunity to correct a mistake would be an even bigger mistake.
Almost a year ago, the Lithuanian intellectual community addressed you and the entire political elite, warning of the moral bankruptcy represented by a coalition with forces that foment anti-Semitism, flirting with authoritarian ideologies, and even publicly questioning the necessity of Lithuania's defence spending when the country is neighbours with an aggressive, imperialist Russia.
The past year has only confirmed the validity of these warnings. As we have seen, Žemaitaitis has managed to mock not only the Seimas as an institution, but also the authority of the President.
To support the continued participation of this party in the ruling majority and the Government, it would be not only irresponsible but also unjustifiable to do so, given that on 23 July 2025, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that the Special Investigation Service had launched a pre-trial investigation into the possible illegal financing of a political party's election campaign. In addition, journalistic investigations have revealed that the activities of Nemuno Aušra may be supported by obscure forces, more specifically by a Russian oligarch whose interests are contrary to transparency and Western legal norms. The public now knows who is really behind this party, which is still tolerated by the ruling majority. This is all the more so given that this party recently published pro-Russian messages, questioned support for Ukraine, and directly contributed to the discrediting of Lithuania in the international arena.
Therefore, today, as the Social Democrats seek a new political balance following the prime minister's resignation and discuss a future coalition agreement, it is imperative to raise a fundamental question: with whom will it be signed? Will a force that has already proven its incompatibility with democratic principles be chosen once again, or will a path be chosen that corrects the mistake? Democracy cannot be defended by those who undermine it.
Your Excellency, we invite you to take a firm stance that a coalition with Nemuno Aušra is incompatible with Lithuania's national interests, European identity, and moral responsibility. This stance is necessary not because of party interests, but because of the fundamental values that we must defend—now, before it is too late.
You are the person who has all the tools to stop this harmful process. It will be your choice as a statesman – whether to allow a new compromise with demagogic politics or to seek solutions that would prevent the discrediting and undermining of the state.
Lithuania has sacrificed too much to fall into the same trap again. Democracy cannot be defended by those who undermine it.
We invite you to express a clear and principled position on the renewal of the coalition so that, after trying a second time, we do not have to admit our mistake again.
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Chairman of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Chairwoman of the Liberal Movement