Democrats nominate Rojaka for Vilnius mayor, Miškinienė for Lazdijai

Lithuania’s Democratic Union “For Lithuania” has nominated Seimas member and economist Jekaterina Rojaka for Vilnius mayor and incumbent Ausma Miškinienė for a third term as Lazdijai district mayor, LRT reported. The governing coalition party launched its 2027 local election campaign in Vilnius on Saturday and approved more than 30 mayoral candidates.

Seimas member Agnė Jakavičiūtė-Miliauskienė was nominated for mayor of Telšiai district. Vytautas Laurinaitis will seek a fifth term leading Šilutė district municipality, which he has headed since 2014.

Two levels of court ruled that Miškinienė had unjustly enriched herself during her previous term by using funds intended for council members’ activities. She was ordered to repay the municipality 4,288 euros, plus annual interest of 5% from the start of the court case until the judgment was enforced.

Because the case was civil, not criminal, no restrictions were imposed on Miškinienė’s activities, and she is eligible to run in next year’s local elections. She suspended her membership in the Democratic Union in June 2024 after the circumstances surrounding the council-member payments came to light, and rejoined in June this year.

The party also nominated candidates for mayor in Elektrėnai, Marius Urvakis; Biržai, Toma Karvelytė-Janulionienė; Joniškis, Mindaugas Balčiūnas; Kaišiadorys, Virgilijus Ceslevičius; Kėdainiai, Paulius Aukštikalnis; Kalvarija, Karolis Babeckas; Kupiškis, Vidmantas Paliulis; Mažeikiai, Pranas Noreika; Panevėžys city, Justinas Jasiukaitis; Radviliškis, Jurgita Sidarienė; Rokiškis district, Zita Andriūnienė; Šakiai district, Mindaugas Kantautas; Šilalė district, Gedeminas Sungaila; Širvintos, Vidmantas Mateika; Utena, Eimantas Puodžiukas; Vilkaviškis, Vladimir Jelisejev; and Zarasai, Gintaris Petrėnas.

In July, the party announced its first 13 mayoral candidates. They included Rasa Bekėžienė, a former head of the Klaipėda city police station, who plans to run for mayor of Klaipėda; Seimas First Deputy Speaker Domas Griškevičius, who will run in Šiauliai; and incumbent mayors Darius Varnas of Ukmergė district and Rasa Vitkauskienė of Alytus district, who will seek re-election.

Lithuania has 60 municipalities. Democratic Union leader and European Parliament member Virginijus Sinkevičius said the party did not intend to field candidates in every municipality. It has 56 active local branches, he said, and expects to nominate candidates in roughly that many municipalities, although some branches may put forward council lists without a mayoral candidate.

The party’s election slogan is “Our home, our decisions.” Energy Minister Lukas Savickas will lead its campaign headquarters. Sinkevičius said the campaign would focus on decision-making and concrete proposals, and that he planned to visit twice every municipality where the party fields a mayoral candidate.