The upstart of Lithuanian politics – Remigijus Zemaitaitis, leader of the right-wing party The Dawn of the River Neman

  • 2025-01-28
  • Linas Jegelevicius

One name stands out in the otherwise predictable Seimas, the Lithuanian legislature: Remigijus Zemaitaitis, the 42-year-old chairman of Nemuno Ausra (The Dawn of the River Neman), a new right-wing Lithuanian party – labeled populist or radical by some – that secured 20 seats in the 141-member legislative chamber following the parliamentary elections last October.

“We aim to represent as wide spectrum of opinions as possible; we’re leaning towards center-left on social issues related to people’s wellbeing, but we are on the right when it comes to what makes statehood – our language, culture and national identity,” R. Zemaitaitis told The Baltic Times Magazine. adding: “Unfortunately, in the EU, we see bad examples when some of the countries are seeing their identities severely compromised.”

The name of the politician and his party has dominated headlines for months, and the attention, given that Donald Trump, the American President, is expected to fuel a wave of conservative radical political movements across the globe, is unlikely to fade anytime soon.

But still, why is Zemaitaitis so immensely popular, ranking just behind President Gitanas Nauseda in some polls at the end of 2024?

“In a nutshell, he is an anti-systemic, very exuberant politician, one daring to jab at Israel and America and swear at elites. An energetic leader, sharp criticism of the former ruling majority (The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, TS-LKD), and voters’ desire for new "saviors" contributed to Nemuno Ausra performing well in the elections, garnering nearly 15% of the vote in the multi-member constituency,” Vytautas Dumbliauskas, associate professor at Mykolas Romeris University, told The Baltic Times Magazine.

“He (Zemaitaitis) certainly got God‘s gifts – great eloquence and affinity, i.e. being liked by many people from all walks of life, rare qualities among today’s Lithuanian politicians,” V. Dumbliauskas added.

Gintaras Tomkus, publisher of the daily ‘Vakaru Ekspresas’ in Klaipeda, Lithuania’s third-largest city, cannot agree more: “People love him, because he loves people, and the affinity is mutual, natural. He speaks straight, bluntly and says much more than other politicians allow themselves to say.”

In the 2023 mayoral election in Klaipeda, a traditional liberal stronghold, Zemaitaitis came third with slightly over 20 percent of the votes, and his party secured seven seats on the Klaipeda City Council. He garnered 11 percent of the vote in the presidential election in May 2024, a result he described as 'amazing.' Only Gitanas Nauseda, the country’s incumbent president who won a second term in May, and Ingrida Simonyte, the Prime Minister and candidate of the ruling Homeland Union, outperformed him.

Initially, the Social Democrats, winners of the 2024 parliamentary elections, vowed not to invite R. Zemaitaitis' party into the coalition due to his controversial public statements and the legal cases against him. However, they ultimately broke that promise. As a result, the new Lithuanian coalition now holds a comfortable 86-seat majority in the Seimas, with the party securing three ministerial portfolios. Nonetheless, the inclusion of Neman Dawn signals a potentially rocky road ahead – for the Cabinet, the President, and perhaps the entire country.

Asked to what extent his party resembles and embraces the Kaczynskis’ Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc – PiS) in Poland, and Orban’s Fidesz, Zemaitaitis says: “There are a lot of myths about the two, and they are conjured by the left press that says: “Look, how bad and how anti-European they are, when in fact – I am convinced – they care about their countries’ national identity, (they do so) much more than all the leftist governments in other EU member states.”

“If not for the Kaczynskis, Poland would have never been so strong militarily as it is now. To me, Orban’s party is the leader of domestic politics. On security issues, I side with Kaczynskis and on domestic politics and policies – with Orban,” Zemaitaitis, who has been legislating in the Seimas since 2009, adds.

His party undertakes to carry out 26 tasks in the 2024-2028 Seimas. Among the notable things, “The Dawn of the River Neman” sides with Donald Trump’s notion that aid to Ukraine ought to be provided on a loan base; on the front of social policy, it commits to adopting personal income tax benefits to families raising three or more children; peg the non-taxable amount of income (NPD) with the minimum monthly salary (MMA).

When it comes to education and science, healthcare, the party pledges to announce a 4-year moratorium on new transformations and reforms in the fields of education, science, and health, the sectors that have been under many, some say, deleterious reforms recently.

With regards to the economy, “The Dawn of the River Neman” aims to establish the State Bank of Lithuania "Vytis", announce a 2-year moratorium on tax changes, conduct an audit of the state-owned enterprises and carry out their transformation.

In energy, the party wants to delist shares of Ignitis, controlled by the state, making it possible for the state to buy them and review the activities of other energy-related companies.

As far as agriculture is concerned, the party will seek to stop the measures of the green course, which, by increasing social exclusion, harm the development of agriculture, rural areas and regions.

 ‘The Dawn of the River Neman” wants to publish lists of all persons who cooperated with the KGB (the lists will be made public only in 2080 according to the current legislation).

“Around 70 percent of our 26-work program has been included in the new Government’s program,” says R. Zemaitaitis.

Unlike Estonia, with its nationalist parties EKRE and Isamaa, Lithuania has not had such a party until now.

“The two inspire me. If the Estonians can have and trust the parties, why not do it in Lithuania?” – R. Zemaitaitis asks rhetorically.

At the beginning of last summer, undeterred by the Constitutional Court’s ruling that he had violated his oath and the Constitution by posting anti-Semitic remarks online, Zemaitaitis was the first among party leaders to launch the Seimas election campaign. He chose an unlikely location – the beach in Palanga, Lithuania’s gem resort on the Baltic coast – where he set up a makeshift office with portable inflatable beach couches, inviting sunbathers to stop by and say hello.

The people loved it, and soon, Zemaitaitis, the pinup man of the buzzy social media, set out to crisscross the country, swinging by little settlements and villages that, to tell the truth, often feel forgotten by all, including politicians.

Yet, to some, he is considered an anti-Semite, and his party's inclusion in the new ruling coalition has sparked several protests outside the Seimas premises.

Specifically, in June 2023, he made Facebook posts claiming that "the Jews and Russians" oppressed ethnic Lithuanians during World War II and were responsible for the 1944 massacre in the village of Pirciupiai, an atrocity that, historians maintain, was carried out by German SS forces.

Also in 2023, Zemaitaitis shared a news story about the demolition of a Palestinian school by Israel in the West Bank, commenting that such actions “fuel anger and hatred towards Jews and their nation,” followed by an anti-Semitic rhyme: “A Jew climbed a ladder and fell suddenly. Take a little stick, children, and kill that Jew.” 

During the Soviet era, it was traditionally recited on the Shrovetide holiday.

But Zemaitaitis shrugs off the accusations: “Thank God, my opponents did not accuse me of molesting children, which haunts the Homeland Union (its former MP Kristijonas Bartosevicius is accused of sexual crimes against minor boys – TBT). If someone in Lithuania calls you antisemite, it means you’re so transparent and speckless wherever they (opponents) look at you. That (antisemitism) is the only thing they can concoct in an attempt to besmear me.”

V. Dumbliauskas, the analyst, says he does not question the ruling of the Constitutional Court but is skeptical about the accusations. 

“The old rhyme about Jews was popular during the Soviet era as part of the Lithuanian folklore, and nobody deemed it antisemitic and, in my environment, nobody resorted to physical violence against the Jews because of it. Are we not increasingly falling victim to the culture of cancellation and political correctness? I do not consider Zemaitaitis anti-Semite,” V. Dumbliauskas emphasized, adding: “Yet I acknowledge: a wave of antisemitism has risen ubiquitously, which augurs a war that will kill not only Jews but all of us.  Jews are the litmus papers of what comes next.”

However, Zemaitaitis does not appear to be restrained, as he faces new allegations, including fresh accusations of anti-Semitism, which he dismisses as politically motivated. The newly seated Seimas has already stripped him of legal immunity, but he remains confident that the courts will exonerate him.

Amid the emerging political landscape across Europe, the US and beyond, where anti-systemic, nationalist – even racist and antisemitic – rhetoric resonates with swaths of voters, prompting them to head to the ballot boxes, 'The Dawn of the River Neman' seems poised to thrive. But for how long?