- Title: LITHUANIA: THOUSANDS RALLY IN SUPPORT OF TROUBLED PRESIDENT ROLANDAS PAKSAS
- Date: 7th December 2003
- Summary: (W7) VILNIUS, LITHUANIA (DECEMBER 6, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF SNOW-COVERED VILNIUS PRESIDENTIAL PALACE; PRESIDENTIAL 0.09 (W7) UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (FILE) (REUTERS) 2. MV LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT ROLANDAS PAKSAS TAKING FLOWERS AND KISSING WOMAN 0.17 3. SOUNDBITE (Lithuanian) PAKSAS "I am always guarding the interests of the state a
- Embargoed: 22nd December 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: VILNIUS, AND UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, LITHUANIA
- Country: Lithuania
- Reuters ID: LVAEOJVU7IWM97JHIG24H9F9NJN2
- Story Text: Thousands rally in Vilnius in support of Lithuanian
president vows to fight impeachment.
Thousands rallied in Lithuania's capital on
Saturday (December 6) in the first public support for the
country's president since a report accused him of links to
Russian mobsters, paving the way for near-certain
impeachment.
President Rolandas Paksas said "God and the people"
would protect him from the allegations contained in a
parliamentary probe on Monday that declared him a security
threat to the Baltic nation.
"I am always guarding the interests of the state and
citizens of Lithuania. Nobody can push me away", he said
earlier.
On the streets of Vilnius, the angry crowd of at least
3,000 Paksas supporters - about the same number as the
crowds who rallied against the president last week
carried banners saying "President, forward!" and
"President, the nation trusts you!".
Speakers deplored media and politicians who have called
on Paksas, a former stunt pilot, to resign or face
impeachment.
"For president", chanted the crowd, made up of mostly
older people who had travelled to the capital from the
countryside.
Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas warned Paksas his
impeachment was inevitable, but lengthy proceedings might
endanger Lithuania's entry into the European Union due in
May.
Brazauskas's centre-left ruling majority joined
opposition parties in urging Paksas to quit this week after
parliament's commission said the president had leaked
sensitive information.
"I am resolved to endure the impeachment process,"
Paksas said in an interview published in the Respublika
newspaper.
Paksas has fought for political survival since a secret
service report in October said his office and some aides
were linked to Russian organised crime and intelligence
bodies.
The accusations have embarrassed Lithuania and raised
fears Russian gangsters would use the Baltic state as a
springboard for illicit business across the enlarged EU.
Paksas won the presidency on a wave of support among
the many who lost out in the transition from communism to
democracy and is still backed by many in the countryside.
"I think that the President will win and the truth will
win", said Thomas, a 21-year-old student.
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