Lithuanian member of the European Commission Dalia Grybauskaite and Gitanas Nauseda, an adviser to the president of SEB Bank, have emerged as Lithuania's most favored candidates for the Prime Minister's post in the latest opinion poll conducted by market research company Baltijos Tyrimai. The supporters of almost all parties mentioned Grybauskaite as the most favored PM candidate. Nauseda's name also appeared on the lists of top three most-favored PM candidates compiled by the majority of party voters.
A majority 24.9 percent of respondents also opted for Grybauskaite to be president. Rolandas Paksas garnered 8.5 percent, Arturas Paulauskas 5.6 percent, Gitanas Nauseda 5.4 percent, Vilija Blinkeviciute 4.6 percent and Andrius Kubilius 4.3 percent in polls asking for the favored presidential candidate.
President Valdas Adamkus said that current global events show that small nations such as Lithuania and Estonia have to stick together in solidarity. Adamkus made the comments while accepting the credentials of the new Estonian Ambassador Tiit Naber. "We are working together towards a European Union that stands in solidarity and speaks with a single voice to external partners; together we support Eastern European countries on the path of Euro integration; and together we are building a strong NATO that can respond to new security threats. However, the alarming global economic developments and the events in Georgia of the past months remind us once again of the importance for small neighboring countries to stand together. Today, a great deal of urgent and immediate work awaits Lithuania and Estonia," Adamkus said. He added that Lithuania and Estonia should continue holding a unanimous stance in support of full withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Georgia. "We must seek that Europe evaluate in a new light its further relationship with Russia, making at the same time immediate practical steps towards its eastern neighbors; maximally deepen its relations with Ukraine; open association talks with Georgia and Moldova; and liberalize the visa regime with Georgia. We have to ensure that the NATO defense ministers' meeting to be held this coming December would produce favorable results for Georgia and Ukraine," he said.
U.S. Lithuanians were not particularly active voters in the Oct. 12 general elections because they were lazy, according to officials in Chicago. The administrator of the Consulate of Lithuania in Chicago, Ramunas Astrauskas, said that 752 Lithuanian citizens cast votes for Parliament in Chicago's electoral district. This included votes of Lithuanians living in the nearby states of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, among others, as well as those who chose to vote via post. In Washington and the surrounding states 372 Lithuanians voted out of the 555 registered, said the first secretary to the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, Liutauras Bauza.
The Tres Conquistadors team won the 8th annual Culinary Symposium with a Mexican twist on Oct. 11. The winning team prepared a platter of authentic Mexican food, described by the winners as "brutal," to claim first place. The competition, held in Uzupis, displays the finest cuisine of Vilnius.
