Lithuania’s election watchdog proposes sanctions over campaign finance violations

The Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania (VRK) has proposed recognising that the Nemuno aušra party and its leader, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, committed serious violations of the Election Code in the financing of their 2024 parliamentary and presidential election campaigns, LRT reports.

A working group of the VRK found that the campaigns were largely funded by contributions from legal entities, which is prohibited. The violations are classified as serious due to the use of impermissible funding sources.

The commission will consider obliging Žemaitaitis to transfer 9,500 euros—an amount linked to the illegal financing of the presidential campaign—into the state budget within 20 working days.

A decision on 28,500 euros received by Nemuno aušra—24,200 euros from legal entities and 4,300 euros in membership fees through third parties—has been proposed to be postponed until the issue of state budget allocations to parties is resolved. This would mark the second serious financial violation by the party.

In June, the VRK ruled that Nemuno aušra had misused 49,500 euros of state funds intended for the party, including payments for car rentals for its leader and a party member, without proper documentation. The party also submitted false data to the VRK. As a result, it did not receive its first state subsidy of 241,800 euros for the first half of the year.