Linas Jegelevičius
An online petition calls on former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who was dubbed “Steel Magnolia” for her toughness during the presidency from 2009 to 2019, to vie for the top job in the capital’s Daukantas square again.
By 2 pm on Monday, the 21st of August, more than 4 700 people have signed an “Appeal to the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė to run in the presidential election”.
The petition promulgates that Lithuania is through a perilous time marked with great geopolitical dangers and tackling them requires “great concentration, willpower, and determination”, the qualities that Grybauskaitė possesses.
“We believe in you. Our country needs you. We need you. You are our president,” the petition states.
Lithuania’s former head-of-state has previously said that she does not intend to run for president again – this was reiterated by her office on Monday.
“The president has already expressed her position on her non-participation in the elections,” Grybauskaitė‘s office said in a written comment.
However, analysts note that “Steel Magnolia” is likely exploring her chances.
“She will enter the race if she is convinced that she can win,” Naglis Puteikis, former MP, told BNN.
Grybauskaitė poured gas on the fire earlier this week by putting out a photo of herself and the Lithuanian national basketball squad’s hoopsters, who will start the World Championship in Philippines at the end of the week.
“I send our basketball players off to the World Championship with the best wishes,” her post says.
In the photo, D. Grybauskaitė dons the blue suit that became her signature garment, but another detail also caught the eye – a scarf with the Lithuanian flag hung around her neck.
“It could be just one of many photos, but she did it purposely – set off the mill of talks about her possible run,” N. Puteikis is convinced.
He does not rule out that D. Grybauskaitė will nod to the encouragement to enter race.
“Look, she is out of office, but, if we were to look around, we’d still see many people holding top jobs in many key state enterprises, like the Bank of Lithuania, the Competition Council, Ignitis (Lithuania’s state-controlled energy group – L.J.) and in other big companies. All of them were appointed by D. Grybauskaitė,” N. Puteikis said.
He says the incumbent president, Gitanas Nausėda, has appointed very few people to key positions so far.
“You just cannot disregard it, as energy and banking sectors are very chunky,” he added.
The ex-parliamentarian says he finds the recent words said by Andrius Kubilius, now euro parliamentarian and one of the ruling TS-LKD stalwarts, on the party’s potential presidential candidate “very interesting.”
“He said that the Conservatives stand no chance in the election if the party does not get Grybauskaite on the ballot. He was blunt but said the truth,” N. Puteikis accentuated to BNN.
Approached by BNN, Kęstutis Girnius, associate professor at Vilnius University, said: “I think such petition is based on disappointment. Although Gitanas Nausėda is a clear favourite in emerging presidential polls, yet many are dissatisfied with him.”
“The ruling Conservatives (officially, Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, TS-LKD – L.J) still do not have a reliable candidate for the election and Grybauskaitė has a very strong record and good reputation. Not surprisingly, many people out there still count on her and believe that she can be talked into running again,” K. Girnius said.
“So far, she says she does not intend to run. I personally believe it would make sense for her not to run – the new term can ruin her reputation and the current circumstances we have are not good to make major significant changes in Lithuanian politics and beyond,” the analyst emphasised to BNN.
Grybauskaitė was seen as one of the candidates to replace the current NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg once his term ends. He was initially scheduled to step down last autumn, but his term was extended until October 2024 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
International media reported that Grybauskaitė’s candidacy was pushed to the margins due to her hawkish stance on Russia.
Although D. Grybauskaitė is relatively little visible after leaving her office in 2019, however, her public appearances and comments always draw attention.
In early July, she claimed that NATO has failed to deter Russia and the West is still living in a completely “different time” than Moscow, which has mobilised its entire society and industry for war.
“We have failed to deter Russia […] from going to war. We are still failing to explain to the people what needs to be done. We are still failing to arm Ukraine so that they can strike back,” Grybauskaitė told a Vilnius University conference, which was reported by LRT.lt
After Moscow’s occupation of Crimea in 2014, the Baltics expressed a dire caveat to Western leaders about the threat posed by Russia, but there was no response.
“We were laughed at, criticised and not heard. Now, when we meet leaders, former leaders, they complain and say that we were right. But why are we not being listened to now?” the former head of state said.
Grybauskaitė has recently weighed in on the ongoing public debate on Germany’s commitment to send a brigade to Lithuania and called it a “disgrace”.
“I think the public debate shows the immaturity of our political elite,” she has said.
Vilnius yearns a full German brigade to be permanently stationed in the country. Berlin insisted for long that only part of the brigade will be deployed in Lithuania. However, in June, Germany changed it mind, saying it will permanently station the brigade in Lithuania if the country builds the necessary infrastructure in place and if this is in line with other NATO plans.
With just eight months before the presidential elections in May next year, only one presidential candidate is known.
The Lithuanian Farmers and Green Union has nominated former Health Minister Aurelijus Veryga for the presidency.
So far, polls show that the current president, Nausėda, has the best chance of winning the 2024 elections. However, he has not yet confirmed whether he will seek a second term in office.
“As the president has said many times in the past, he intends to decide on his participation in the 2024 elections by the end of this year,” the president’s office told LRT.lt on Monday, August 21.
This week, Lithuanian experts put out the country’s most influential persons. President Gitanas Nausėda sits on top, but the top ten also includes former presidents Valdas Adamkus and Dalia Grybauskaitė.