Former presidential candidate E. Vaitkus, seeking to enter the Seimas in the November elections in the northern constituency of Nalšia, is known for his pro-Kremlin statements and constantly walking a fine line of legal violations: the prosecutor’s office had initiated two pre-trial investigations – regarding his visit to Minsk and the statements made there, and for possible desecration of the Lithuanian state symbol – the coat of arms, but both were terminated this year as law enforcement found no elements of a crime.
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In Minsk, E. Vaitkus declared Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda to be illegally elected, claiming that Lithuania is on a path to the destruction of Lithuanians and statehood. In response, the president revoked the state award E. Vaitkus received in 2004.
At the end of August, E. Vaitkus shared a post that caused a particularly wide resonance, claiming that “Russia alone can be the guarantor of Lithuania’s Independence and Security.”
Although the post sparked discussion and considerable outrage over the attempt to erase the painful 70 years of Soviet occupation, supporters dominated here.
Among the 1.9 thousand “likes” is also a virtual thumbs-up from a history and civic education teacher at KTU Gymnasium.
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The gymnasium alumni community and council also reacted to this scandal in internal discussions.
However, other nuances have also come to light – about the historian’s allegedly idiosyncratic interpretations of the most painful stages of Lithuanian and Ukrainian history – the deportations of Lithuanians carried out by the Soviet occupation authorities from 1941 to 1953, and the famine in Ukraine in 1931-1932, which Ukrainians consider a deliberate Soviet Union step to exterminate part of the Ukrainian nation and equate it with genocide.
KTU Gymnasium director Tomas Kivaras says that after some complaints, he has already spoken face to face with the historian but does not see grounds to dismiss him in the near future.
