LITHUANIA: Lithuanian president, Mr Rolandas Paksas, refused to resign yesterday, defiant despite near-certain impeachment after weeks of relentless pressure over allegations that he had links to Russian gangsters.
"The goal of the accusers is not to discover the truth, but to break me morally and to destroy me politically," Mr Paksas, a right-wing populist, said in a statement.
"Again, I underline that in none of my decrees, in none of my actions have I violated the constitution, the law or my oath," said Mr Paksas, a Soviet-trained stunt pilot who previously served two brief terms as prime minister.
His statement follows a damning report from a special parliamentary committee on Monday which called Mr Paksas a threat to national security and paved the way for his impeachment, due to be discussed in parliament.
The affair has embarrassed Lithuania just months before it joins the EU and NATO and raised fears that Russian gangsters would use the Baltic state as a springboard for illicit business across the enlarged EU.
The Prime Minister, Mr Algirdas Brazauskas, head of a centre-left majority coalition and seen as holding the key to Mr Paksas's future, remained neutral until a parliamentary investigation reported on Monday.
However, after the report came out, he finally dealt what many see as a fatal blow to Mr Paksas's fight for political survival.
"This is all a problem of one person - the president," Mr Brazauskas told state radio yesterday.
He added that it would not be difficult to get the 85 votes needed in the 141-member parliament to finally force out Mr Paksas if he refused to admit defeat.
Many Lithuanians just want Mr Paksas to resign and spare the nation of 3.5 million people the lengthy impeachment process which legal experts say will take at least six months.