Prime Minister Ingrida Simonytė has conceded defeat in the final round of the Baltic presidential elections.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has declared victory in the runoff election for the Baltic States presidential elections, with partial vote counts showing him with a large lead over Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
In voting which took place in around 90 percent of polling stations on Sunday, Nauseda, 60, won around three-quarters of the vote, followed by Simonit, 49, of the ruling centre-right Union for Homeland party.
Simonyte acknowledged defeat to reporters and congratulated Nauseda.
This is the second time that Nauseda and Simonyte have faced off in a presidential runoff election, after Nauseda defeated Simonyte in 2019 with 66% of the vote.
As president, Nauseda holds quasi-executive roles, including leading the armed forces, chairing the Defense and National Security Policy Organisation, and representing the country at NATO and European Union summits.
The former senior economist at Swedish banking group SEB and no party affiliation won 44% of the vote in the first round of the election on May 12, falling short of the 50% needed for an outright victory.
Simonito was the only woman out of eight candidates in the first round and came in second with 20 percent of the vote.
Nauzeda and Simonytė both support increasing defense spending to at least 3% of Lithuania's gross domestic product from the planned 2.75% this year in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Like other Baltic states, Lithuania fears it could be Moscow's next target, even though Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he has no intention of attacking any NATO country.
The uneasy relationship between Nauzeda and Simonytė has also become a focus of foreign policy debates, particularly in Lithuania's relations with China.
Relations between the two countries were strained in 2021 after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in the island's name, departing from common diplomatic practice of using the name of the capital, Taipei, to avoid angering Beijing.
China, which considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, has downgraded diplomatic ties with Lithuania and blocked exports, prompting some Lithuanian politicians to push for a restoration of ties for the sake of the economy.