(Updated with first trend)
by Andrius Sytas
VILNIUS, May 12 (Reuters) –
Outgoing President Gitanas Nauseda, Ukraine’s supporter in the face of the Russian invasion, was well ahead in the first round of the Lithuanian presidential election after a quarter of the ballots were counted.
Gitanas Nauseda is well ahead with 49.4% of the votes, the closest candidate only collects 13% of the votes.
Polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT), and final results are expected after midnight. The participation rate is 59%, the highest in almost three decades, according to the electoral commission website.
Gitanas Nauseda, 59, enjoys the support of 29% of voters, according to a recent poll carried out by Delfi/Spinter Tyrimai. Her main rival, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, 49, is credited with 14% of the votes.
Both are staunch supporters of Kyiv and want to devote at least 3% of Lithuania’s gross domestic product (GDP) to military spending, in particular to modernize the army.
Fears of suffering the same fate as Ukraine if Russia wins the war are strong in the Baltic countries, former Soviet republics now members of NATO.
Just over half of Lithuanians think an attack by Russia is possible or even likely, according to a poll by ELTA/Baltijos Tyrimai.
Gitanas Nauseda and Ingrida Simonyte, however, disagree on a certain number of issues, such as that of homosexual marriage which the outgoing president is opposed to.
(Andrius Sytas; French version Camille Raynaud and Zhifan Liu)
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