Lithuanian commission suspends funding for Nemuno aušra
Friday 30th October 2026 on 13:01 in
Lithuania
Lithuania’s Central Electoral Commission has suspended state budget funding for the Nemuno aušra party for one year over serious legal violations, LRT reported. Nine commission members voted for the decision.
The commission will leave unallocated the 243,062 euros due to the party for the second half of 2026. The suspension covers two half-year funding periods, making this the second consecutive half-year in which the party has received no state subsidy.
The decision follows findings of serious violations related to the financing of the party’s and its leader Remigijus Žemaitaitis’s 2024 parliamentary and presidential election campaigns. In August, the commission said they had accepted funding from illegal sources and through third parties. The party also missed its allocation for the first half of this year over earlier violations involving state-funded car rentals.
The commission allocated 2.42 million euros in second-half funding to nine other parties. The largest sums went to the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party, with 665,000 euros, and the Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, with 614,600 euros. The Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union will receive 255,200 euros; the Democrats’ Union “For Lithuania,” 241,800 euros; and the Liberal Movement, 233,200 euros.
The Lithuanian Polish Electoral Action-Christian Families Alliance was allocated 141,900 euros, the Freedom Party 141,000 euros, the National Alliance 65,800 euros and the Centre-Right Union, formerly the Freedom and Justice party, 61,400 euros.
The Lithuanian Regions Party also received no funding. The commission withheld its 87,932-euro allocation after finding that party funds had been used to pay its executive secretary for renting out his personal cars, but supporting documents were not provided. In total, 330,994 euros remained undistributed for the second half of the year.
The state budget provides 5.502 million euros for political party funding in 2026. Allocations are made twice a year, by April 15 and November 15.