The Lithuanian Christian Democracy Party (, LKDP) is a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

party in Lithuania founded in 2003. It first acquired a

Member of the Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

in 2024, when

Mindaugas Puidokas Mindaugas Puidokas (born 19 March 1979) is a Lithuanian politician, 2020 draft winner and journalist. He was an independent candidate for the 2019 Lithuanian presidential election. Biography He graduated from the Sports University, Kaunas, in ...

joined the party and was elected as its chairman. It is a member of the

European Christian Political Party The European Christian Political Party (ECPP), formerly known as the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) from 2002 to April 2025, is a European political party exclusively working on promoting Christian values. The party unites nationa ...

History

The party was founded in 2003, after members of the

Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party The Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party (, LKDP) was a Christian-democratic political party in Lithuania. History Russian Empire and Republic of Lithuania A Christian Democratic movement was established in Lithuania in 1890 by a group of Ro ...

left in protest of the leadership's decision of unify with the Christian Democratic Union, another Christian Democratic party. The newly founded party retained the original party's statute and program, but was unable to keep its name and thus adopted a slightly altered one. The party's formation was initiated by former

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Zigmas Zinkevičius Zigmas Zinkevičius (4 January 1925 – 20 February 2018) was a Lithuanian academician, Baltist, linguist, linguistic historian, dialectologist, politician, and the former Minister of Education and Science of Lithuania (1996–1998). Zinkevičiu ...

and dissident and Catholic priest

Alfonsas Svarinskas Alfonsas is a Lithuanian masculine given name. People bearing the name Alfonsas include: *Alfonsas Andriuškevičius (born 1940), Lithuanian poet and art historian *Alfonsas Danys (1924–2014), Lithuanian writer *Alfonsas Dargis (1909–1996), L ...

. They were opposed to cooperation with

Kazys Bobelis Kazys Bobelis (4 March 1923 – 30 September 2013) was a Lithuanian surgeon and politician. Biography Bobelis was born in Kaunas. His father was Colonel Jurgis Bobelis (1885–1954). In 1941, Bobelis participated in the June Uprising against th ...

, chairman of the Christian Democratic Union, who, according to them, had conspired with "

kolchoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz. These were the two components of the socialized farm sector that began to eme ...

chairmen" (referring to the

Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania The Democratic Labour Party of Lithuania (, LDDP) was a political party in Lithuania. It was the successor of the Soviet-era Communist Party of Lithuania. The youth organization of LDDP was called Lithuanian Labourist Youth Union (). History ...

) during municipal elections. The party's first chairman was Ignacas Uždavinys, who remained until 2008. The party's next chairman, Vincentas Lamanauskas, joined the

Christian Party Christian Party may refer to: *Christian Party of Austria *Christian Party (Lithuania) * Christian Party (Samoa) * Christian Party (St. Maarten) * Christian Party (UK), includes the Scottish Christian Party and the Welsh Christian Party *Christian ...

in 2010. It first participated in the 2011 local elections and received 1199 votes, or 0.1 percent of the total vote. It performed worse in the 2019 local elections, where it only received 811 votes, or 0.09 percent of the total vote, and did not contest the 2023 local elections. On 8 January 2024,

, former Member of the Seimas from the Labour Party, joined the party and was elected as its chairman. The party made the decision to contest

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania (), or simply the Seimas ( ; ), is the unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the Lithuania, Republic of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of Government of Lithuania, govern ...

and

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

elections for the first time in its history. Puidokas had resigned from the Labour Party in March 2022, after the party distanced himself from his comments on the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, in which he blamed the outbreak of the war on

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

aggression. On 22 January 2024, it endorsed

Ignas Vėgėlė Ignas Vėgėlė (born 22 July 1975) is a Lithuanian lawyer and right-wing politician who served as president of the Lithuanian Bar Association from 2014 to 2022, as well as president of the Lithuanian Lawyers' Association from 2013 to 2016. He w ...

in the

2024 Lithuanian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Lithuania on 12 May 2024, alongside a 2024 Lithuanian constitutional referendum, referendum on allowing multiple citizenships. Incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda won re-election to a second term. When candid ...

. To contest the

2024 European Parliament election in Lithuania The 2024 European Parliament election in Lithuania were held on 9 June 2024 as part of the 2024 European Parliament election. This was the first to take place after Brexit. Background Lithuania (European Parliament constituency), Lithuania w ...

, the party formed a "Coalition of Peace" (Lithuanian: ''"Taikos koalicija"'') with the

Samogitian Party The Samogitian Party (, ) is a minor ethnic-regionalist autonomist party of Lithuania's Samogitian minority founded in February 2009. History Origins The predecessor to the party, the "Samogitians Were, Are and Will Be" Initiative Group (, ) wa ...

and the team of failed 2024 presidential candidate

Valdas Tutkus Lieutenant General Valdas Tutkus (born 27 December 1960) is a Lithuanian former military officer and politician. He served as the Chief of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania from 2004 until 2009, having previously served as an Armed Forces Comma ...

. The coalition's proclaimed goals are to oppose

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

and the deployment of Lithuanian soldiers in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and defend

traditional values Traditionalist conservatism, often known as classical conservatism, is a political and social philosophy that emphasizes the importance of transcendent moral principles, manifested through certain posited natural laws to which it is claimed ...

Platform

In its platform, the party ascribes itself to

Christian democracy Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

and

Catholic social teaching Catholic social teaching (CST) is an area of Catholic doctrine which is concerned with human dignity and the common good in society. It addresses oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, social justice, and w ...

. According to the party, the country has been taken over by "

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

political powers" which promote "

gender ideology The anti-gender movement is a global phenomenon that opposes concepts often referred to as "gender ideology" or "gender theory". These loosely-defined terms are commonly used by the movement to critique a range of issues related to gender equ ...

". Though it ascribes to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, it extols

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

as the example for Lithuania to follow. After Puidokas's takeover of the party, its rhetoric has been described as supportive of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and peddling

disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...

and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

Election results

Seimas

European Parliament

Notes

References

{{European Christian Political Movement Christian democratic parties in Lithuania Political parties established in 2003 Conservative parties in Lithuania Organizations that oppose LGBTQ rights in Lithuania Socially conservative parties Christian fundamentalist organizations in Europe Opposition to same-sex marriage in Europe Christian nationalism in Europe Anti-abortion organizations Criticism of multiculturalism Anti-globalization movement Criticism of feminism Paleoconservatism Paleoconservative organizations Anti-immigration politics in Europe Anti-LGBTQ Christian organizations