VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — The opposition Social Democratic Party has emerged as the leader after Sunday’s first round of national elections in Lithuania and says it will start negotiations to form a new government with left-leaning parties, which would oust the center-right coalition that has ruled for the past four years.
With 100% of votes of the first round counted on Monday, The Social Democrats won 18 of the first 70 seats to be decided in the 141-seat Seimas, one seat ahead of the ruling Homeland Union party of Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.
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A children stand near a voting booth during the first round of voting in parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
FILE - Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, a presidential candidate, casts her vote at a polling station during the advance presidential elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)
FILE - Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte speaks during a news conference following his meeting with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the government's headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, on March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)
Residents cast their ballots at a polling station during the first round of voting in presidential elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
An elderly woman casts her vote at the polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
A man with a child casts his ballot at a polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Women read ballot papers at a polling station during a first round of voting in parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute speaks to the media while waiting for the results of the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute smiles as she waits for the results of the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute, center, celebrates winning the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
In a second round of voting on Oct. 27, single-member constituencies will vote to choose between the two leading candidates from the first round.
Šimonytė’s government took office in 2020 and recorded economic success. However, strict COVID-19 measures and an influx of migrants cast shadows over her Cabinet. Šimonytė especially faced criticism for strict measures during the pandemic, with many complaining that her government didn’t do enough to help companies during lockdown and others saying thousands of people didn’t have proper access to health care services.
The head of the Social Democratic Party, Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, said she and the center-left Democratic Union, which took eight seats, would attempt to form a coalition and would support each other's candidates in the second round. She was also to meet with the leadership of another center-left party, the Farmers and Greens Union, which won six seats.
Nemuno Aušra, a newly registered party of right-wing politician Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who was impeached earlier this year for making antisemitic statements, took 14 seats. The Social Democrats have ruled out any alliance with Žemaitaitis’ party. The final party to win seats was the Liberal Union, which took seven.
The results continue a historic pattern where voters tend to look a different way every four years.
“The so-called pendulum principle makes society shift from left to right and so on," Margarita Šešelgytė, the director at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius, told The Associated Press. "Not a single time since the early 1990s have Lithuanians voted in two consecutive elections for the same party to run the country.”
Analysts say a shift to the left wouldn’t bring significant changes to the foreign policy of Lithuania, an EU and NATO member that borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west and Belarus, a Moscow ally, to the east. The vote comes at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine is fueling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.
Turnout was at 52.1%, up from 47.2% in 2020, according to official figures.
A children stand near a voting booth during the first round of voting in parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
FILE - Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, a presidential candidate, casts her vote at a polling station during the advance presidential elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)
FILE - Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte speaks during a news conference following his meeting with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the government's headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, on March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)
Residents cast their ballots at a polling station during the first round of voting in presidential elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
An elderly woman casts her vote at the polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
A man with a child casts his ballot at a polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Women read ballot papers at a polling station during a first round of voting in parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute speaks to the media while waiting for the results of the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute smiles as she waits for the results of the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute, center, celebrates winning the first round of Lithuania's parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — Nearly 200 families gathered Saturday along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border for heartfelt but brief reunions with loved ones they had not seen for years because they live in opposite countries.
Tears flowed and people embraced as Mexican families were allowed to reunite for a few minutes at the border with relatives who migrated to the U.S. Adults and children passed over the Rio Grande to meet with their loved ones.
This year, the annual event organized by an immigrant rights advocacy group happened three days before the U.S. presidential election, whose monthslong campaigns have focused heavily on immigration and border security. It also took place under increased security, according to the Network in Defense of the Rights of Migrants.
“We did not have barbed wire, we did not have so many soldiers deployed in our community,” said Fernando García, the organization’s director, highlighting the border security changes that the border has seen since the reunions began last decade. “The barbed wire had to be opened so that the families could have this event.”
García said he expects migration into the U.S. to continue regardless of who wins Tuesday’s election. Family reunions, he said, will continue, too.
“Deportation policy, border policy, immigration policy, is separating families in an extraordinary way and is deeply impacting these families,” he told reporters ahead of the event.
People living in Mexico meet with relatives living in the U.S., during the annual "Hugs not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
People living in Mexico embrace relatives living in the U.S., during the annual "Hugs not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
People living in Mexico meet with relatives living in the U.S., during the annual "Hugs not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
People living in Mexico meet with relatives living in the U.S., during the annual "Hugs not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
A person living in Mexico and a relative living in the U.S., embrace during the annual "Hugs not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)
People living in Mexico meet with relatives living in the U.S., during the annual "Hugs not Walls" event on a stretch of the Rio Grande, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Christian Chavez)