Social Democrats take lead in Lithuania’s general election with 90% of votes counted

euronews (in English)

On the campaign trail, the Social Democrats pledged to tackle rising inequality by hiking taxes on wealthier Lithuanians to pump more money into sectors like healthcare.

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00:00The leader of Lithuania's Social Democrats says she'll try to form a majority coalition

00:07government as her party leads the exit polls in the first round of the country's parliamentary

00:12elections.

00:13Speaking in Vilnius, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė said the results showed that Lithuanians want

00:18change.

00:19On the campaign trail, the SD pledged to tackle rising inequality by hiking taxes on wealthier

00:25Lithuanians to pump more money into sectors like health care.

00:29Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonita has faced criticism for strict measures during the COVID-19

00:35pandemic, with many complaining that her government didn't do enough to help companies during

00:40lockdown.

00:41Others say thousands of people didn't have access to health care services.

00:46Šimonita has also been lambasted for her handling of migrants arriving via Belarus.

00:52National security is also a concern for Lithuania, which is part of the eastern flank of NATO

00:57and the European Union.

01:00Lithuania has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and a strong critic of the Russian invasion.

01:05Since the start of the war in February 2022, the Lithuanian government has provided military

01:11aid to Kiev.

01:12Officials said in September that Vilnius had provided 153 million euros in aid this year

01:18alone.

01:19The run-off vote is scheduled to take place on 27 October.

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