Landsbergis, who has been Lithuania’s foreign minister since December 2020, has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine’s resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
Lithuania’s opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (LSDP), won Sunday’s parliamentary elections, pushing out Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and the incumbent Fatherland Alliance, the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party (TS-LKD).
The centre-left LSDP has secured a decisive majority of 52 seats and is in a position to lead the government. The centre-right TS-LKD, on the other hand, suffered a significant decline, winning only 28 seats compared to 49 after the 2020 elections.
Mr Landsbergis has announced that he is leaving politics and handing over his parliamentary duties to the next politician on his party’s list. He will leave his post as the country’s foreign minister after the new government is formed.
“This signal is addressed not only to the political forces, but also to me personally, and therefore I take the decision to suspend my political career and pass on to the next generation a task for which I am very grateful to my constituents. “I have decided to put my colleagues on the list down,” he said.
Back in August, Landsbergis called off his widely expected bid to become European Commissioner. The move comes amid a bitter rift between Landsbergis, one of the Baltic region’s best-known politicians, and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, who has refused to support him.
