Corgis and Coalitions: Lithuania Struggles With Turmoil, Inside and Out 

Corgis and their owners descended on the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius recently for an international race that drew thousands of spectators to cheer on the diminutive canines. 

The dogs ran their hearts out.  

The lighthearted fun occurred even as massive geopolitical pressures are mounting within and on the borders of the former Soviet republic on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. 

Domestically, 44-year-old Inga Ruginienė of the Social Democrats recently became prime minister of the country after a political crisis erupted from fundamental political tensions that won’t likely be resolved anytime soon, the Associated Press reported. 

Ruginienė replaced Gintautas Paluckas after he resigned on July 31 amid allegations of “shady” financial dealings, Politico explained. 

The new premier will oversee a new coalition that arose after the previous government fell due to disagreements between the Democrats “For Lithuania” political party and the populist Dawn of Nemunas, whose leader was convicted of making antisemitic statements and was barred from handling classified information. 

The new coalition faces its own rifts, however. It includes the Social Democrats, the Dawn of Nemunas, the Lithuanian Farmers, the Greens Union, and the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, parties that are often on opposite poles of the political spectrum. 

For example, the leader of the Electoral Action of Poles – Christian Families Alliance, Waldemar Tomaszewški, has criticized the government’s opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other anti-Russian measures, like a ban on Russian television. European Pravda, a pro-Ukrainian publication, described Tomaszewški and his party as a “pro-Putin force” whose votes were necessary to keep the Social Democrats in power.  

The Social Democrats support anti-Russian measures. 

Regardless, Tomaszewški represents how Lithuania’s big neighbor, Russia, has always played a role in the country’s politics. 

Lithuania has had a long, proud history as a European power until the Soviet Union seized the country in the wake of World War II. Toward the end of the Cold War, the country declared independence in 1990, then joined NATO and the European Union in the ensuing years.  

Now, many Lithuanian leaders are worried that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be interested in retaking their land, too. 

Edward Lucas, a longtime Eastern European commentator, for example, recently reviewed a Russian-published history book for the Center for European Policy Analysis that portrays Lithuania as an “artificial creation riddled with Nazism,” echoing claims Putin has made about Ukraine to justify his invasion. 

“The book is not some fringe publication – it comes from MGIMO, Russia’s top foreign-policy institute, and is financed by a grant from a public body specializing in (read: weaponizing) Russia’s diaspora,” he wrote. “The foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has penned an approving foreword.”  

“History, in the hands of Kremlin propagandists, is a weapon,” he added. 

As a result of such fears of Russian takeover, Lithuania recently unveiled 30 miles of defenses to blunt a Russian attack. They include waterways, ditches, “dragon’s teeth” to hinder tanks, minefields, trenches, and fortified positions. Lithuania has also partnered with Ukraine on drones and other cutting-edge military hardware that is changing war today. 

“Many countries in Europe are concerned (about Russian intentions),” Business Insider wrote. “But for Lithuania, as well as its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia, those warnings have been much more urgent given their position – on the front line of (any future) NATO-Russia war.” 

A 2025 report on the state of threats to Lithuania, published by the country’s Department of National Security and the Ministry of Defense, says that there has been a reduction in military capabilities deployed across the Lithuanian border in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad because of the war in Ukraine but emphasizes that they “remain significant.” It adds that Russia’s challenge to the sovereignty of this small country of nearly 2.9 million inhabitants, as well as that of the other Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, has only increased over the last three years. 

“If the war in Ukraine were to end or be frozen, the threats emanating from Russia (…) would persist,” it said. “Moscow would merely reconsider its priority targets.” 

The report added that over the past three years, Lithuania has faced a series of Russian acts of sabotage.

Tomas Zvirblis deals with these “destabilization operations” on a regular basis as an intelligence officer with the border protection agency in Kybartai, Lithuania, close to Kaliningrad. He says incursions by Russians emanating from the enclave have increased 50 percent in three years.  

“Some come seeking refuge in Europe,” he told Le Monde. “The others are mostly agents sent by the Russians to create incidents, stir division in the country.” 

“They try different intrusion and action techniques to see where our weaknesses are,” he added. “It is clear these are war preparations…if they wanted to invade us, the Russians would start by using these destabilization techniques. They haven’t changed their (modus operandi) since the 1960s. There is always this type of operation before they send their troops.”