On the campaign trail, the Social Democrats pledged to tackle rising inequality by hiking taxes on wealthier Lithuanians to pump more money into sectors like healthcare.
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00:00The leader of Lithuania's Social Democrats says she'll try to form a majority coalition
00:07government as her party leads the exit polls in the first round of the country's parliamentary
00:12elections.
00:13Speaking in Vilnius, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė said the results showed that Lithuanians want
00:18change.
00:19On the campaign trail, the SD pledged to tackle rising inequality by hiking taxes on wealthier
00:25Lithuanians to pump more money into sectors like health care.
00:29Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonita has faced criticism for strict measures during the COVID-19
00:35pandemic, with many complaining that her government didn't do enough to help companies during
00:40lockdown.
00:41Others say thousands of people didn't have access to health care services.
00:46Šimonita has also been lambasted for her handling of migrants arriving via Belarus.
00:52National security is also a concern for Lithuania, which is part of the eastern flank of NATO
00:57and the European Union.
01:00Lithuania has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and a strong critic of the Russian invasion.
01:05Since the start of the war in February 2022, the Lithuanian government has provided military
01:11aid to Kiev.
01:12Officials said in September that Vilnius had provided 153 million euros in aid this year
01:18alone.
01:19The run-off vote is scheduled to take place on 27 October.