Overshadowed by Russia's war against Ukraine, Lithuania elected a new head of state by direct vote on Sunday.
The 59-year-old incumbent Gitanas Nausėda was the clear favourite in the race for the highest office in the Baltic EU and NATO member state, which borders the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus.
Seven candidates ran against the independent politician, among whom there was only one woman, the current Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. Meaningful results were expected during the night. If no candidate achieves an absolute majority, the two best-placed candidates must head into a run-off on May 26.
Despite being the clear favourite, Nausėda is still deemed unlikely to achieve an absolute majority in the first round of voting.
According to the election commission in Vilnius, over 59% of the almost 2.4 million eligible voters had cast their votes by the time the polling stations closed. This was the highest turnout in the first round of the presidential election since 1997.
Independent Nausėda is vying for a second five-year term. The 59-year-old economist has made a name for himself as a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
He has also made a name for himself internationally as a committed representative of the interests of his home country, which is particularly exposed in the geopolitical confrontation with Russia due to its location on NATO's eastern flank. Germany therefore wants to permanently station a combat-ready brigade of up to 5,000 German soldiers in the Baltic state.
After casting his vote in the capital Vilnius, Nausėda said that he had voted "in favour of stability, reliability and continuity."
While in Lithuania the head of state primarily performs representative duties, the post does involve a say in foreign and defence policy and the president is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Lithuania is one of the most determined supporters of Ukraine, which has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two years.
Since 2017, the small Baltic country has hosted a German-led NATO task force involving around 1,600 troops. On Sunday, voters in Lithuania were also voting in a referendum on the introduction of dual citizenship.
