Lithuanian Greens return after 22 years

Lithuanian Greens return 

after 22 years 

A Green MP is back in the Lithuanian Parliament, the first since 1992 

Lithuania held the last stage of its three part elections over the weekend, and with the final results now available, it is clear that a Green has made it back into the Seimas after an absence of 22 years. 

Linas Balsys was elected in the second round of the constituency election for the Karoliniškių constituency with 61.8% of the vote, making him the first environmentalist member of parliament since the Green Party of Lithuania enjoyed electoral success in the Green wave that swept across Eastern and Central Europe after the fall of communism. Then the Greens got 4 seats, which they unfortunately lost in the 1992 elections, leading to a time in the wilderness for Baltic Greens. 

Now the rising opposition to the previous government's planned nuclear power plant at Visaginas in the east of the country, and greater awareness of the environmental challenges faced by the country have helped this leading anti-nuclear activist to victory. Mr Balsys has vowed that his top priority is to get the new government to honour the outcome of the consultative referendum on the nuclear plant held at the same time as the election and which saw Lithuanians turn sharply against the proposals.

Linas has led the opposition to nuclear power whilst advocating the development of Lithuania's renewable energy sector as the head of Lithuania's Green Policy Institute. 

Font: European Greens