That, too, backfired, probably less because it offended the way in which Lithuanians think about the West than because it recalled an ideological style that they have sought so hard to escape. Third, the election gives Lithuania five more years to escape from its communist past, to develop under the leadership of someone steeped in democracy and free markets and committed to broadening and deepening its ties to the West. Unless something untoward happens, the next presidential vote in Lithuania will not take place until 2003. By that time, Lithuania will have had 12 years of post-communist independence, a period that should allow the country to turn the corner. This is not to say that everything is now settled and over in Lithuania.
Many problems remain.
Indeed, his relative lack of experience in Lithuania may make it difficult for him to understand everything going on there and thus make it easier for some to avoid changing the ways in which they do business. But the presidential vote was a defining election, one that seems certain to lead Lithuania in a new direction. Moreover, it may even become a bellwether for similar elections across the former communist world. An HRI Project. All Rights Reserved.