Krivickas to run for Vilnius mayor, Orlauskas for Kaunas district

Former television presenter Kristupas Krivickas will seek the Vilnius mayoral post in next year’s municipal elections, LRT reported on Tuesday.

Rimas Jonas Jankūnas, who was elected chairman of the Tautos and Justice Union, a centrist and nationalist party, in March, will run for mayor of Kaunas. In Klaipėda, the party will nominate former parliamentarian Naglis Puteikis, an ally of Petras Gražulis.

The party’s candidate in Kaunas district will be municipal council member Artūras Orlauskas, who has been punished for spreading false information.

Other candidates include former Klaipėda district mayor Sigitas Karbauskas, former mayor and former parliamentarian Valdemaras Valkiūnas in Biržai, council member Egidijus Visockas in Prienai and council member Algirdas Bacevičius in Telšiai.

Council member Gediminas Lipnevičius will run in Radviliškis, council member Algimantas Birbilas in Panevėžys district, party branch chairman Gintautas Šimonėlis in Utena and party branch chairman Edmundas Jasiūnas in Pasvalys.

As previously reported by BNS, European Parliament member Petras Gražulis will seek the mayoral post in Lazdijai. He has said that, if elected, he would give up the European Parliament mandate he won in June 2024.

Gražulis lost his seat in the Lithuanian parliament through impeachment in 2023 and is barred from entering parliament for 10 years. He has argued that the restriction does not apply to direct mayoral and municipal council elections.

The Tautos and Justice Union approved the candidates at a gathering held over the weekend. Valkiūnas was appointed head of the election headquarters. The elections will take place in February and March 2027.