Lithuania appears to be on the brink of civil conflict, says Armonaitė

Lithuania is teetering on the edge of civil conflict, with political discourse reduced to black-and-white divisions and no shared goals in sight, former economy minister and Freedom Party representative Aušrinė Armonaitė warned in an interview with ELTA Kampas, as reported by public broadcaster LRT.

Armonaitė, who had temporarily withdrawn from public debate, said she had refrained from engaging in what she described as a “ping-pong game” of reactive statements. “For a time, I wasn’t even in Lithuania—I was working in Africa and later as a visiting academic fellow in Paris,” she explained. “But of course, I followed everything closely. I care deeply that Lithuania moves forward, that the work we started—and which earlier governments began—continues to drive progress.”

Assessing recent developments, she argued that while the previous parliamentary term was far from peaceful, the current climate resembles the threshold of civil conflict in its broadest sense. “Right now, it feels like we’re on the brink of civil war—Kaunas ‘Žalgiris’ fans against Vilnius ‘Rytas’ fans, right-wing against left-wing, opposition against government. Everything is reduced to black and white. But the world is in colour; it’s not just black and white,” she stated.

Armonaitė acknowledged that such polarisation is not unique to Lithuania, citing similar trends in the US and Western Europe. “Perhaps we’re not so different in that regard, but we’re a small country, highly open to the world—our economy and welfare depend on that openness. We need more unity, more common ground,” she added.

While she expressed hope that tensions would not escalate into physical violence, she noted that the current system—driven by social media—rewards extreme positions. “The sharper your stance, the more airtime and clicks you get. Social media has become the dominant media platform, and it thrives on division,” she said.

Despite the fractures, Armonaitė urged a search for unifying principles, suggesting national defence and sovereignty as potential common ground. “I’d like to believe these issues unite many in Lithuania—not everyone, of course; there’s an open, so-called ‘fifth column.’ But with those who share these values, we can try to work toward the same goals,” she said.

She criticised the absence of substantive political ideas in public discourse. “Now we only see crime-related news. Political ideas and proposals have disappeared. We need a return to policy-driven debate,” she stressed.

Armonaitė stepped down as Freedom Party leader after losing her seat in the 2024 parliamentary elections. The party, co-founded in 2019 by Armonaitė and former Vilnius mayor Remigijus Šimašius, had won 11 seats in 2020 but failed to secure representation in the last election. She was succeeded as party leader by Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, with Vytautas Mitalas currently heading the party.