Lithuania’s election watchdog examines whether Nemuno Aušra party broke law with car rentals

The Central Electoral Commission of Lithuania (VRK) is reviewing whether the political party Nemuno Aušra violated funding rules by renting vehicles from its own leaders, state broadcaster LRT reports. A decision in the case could strip the party of state subsidies and require its chair, Remigijus Žemaitaitis, and member Daiva Petkevičienė to repay the funds.

The watchdog was set to address the issue last week but delayed the ruling after the party requested more time to review investigative materials. Žemaitaitis has previously claimed that car rental agreements were terminated once Nemuno Aušra became a parliamentary party and began receiving state funding.

Ahead of Thursday’s session, Žemaitaitis told journalists the party would ask the commission to dismiss its findings, arguing they contained factual errors. “We will present our observations and request that this conclusion be rejected,” he said. “The facts in the document contradict even what we ourselves submitted.”

If the VRK rules against Nemuno Aušra, the party risks losing access to public funding, while Žemaitaitis and Petkevičienė may be ordered to return the rental payments to the party’s accounts. The commission’s decision hinges on whether the transactions complied with laws governing political financing.

LRT is broadcasting the session live from 16:00 local time.