The National Alliance (, NS) is a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

political party founded on 7 March 2020 and led by philosopher Vytautas Radžvilas. As of 2024, the party holds two municipal council seats and one seat in

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 ...

, being represented by its vice-chairman Vytautas Sinica.

History

Origins, foundation and the first years (2016–2022)

The predecessor to the party was the Vilnius Forum, later the National Forum, a right-wing

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

which criticized

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

and

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...

, founded in 2016. The founder of the Forum was Vytautas Radžvilas, a political philosopher, professor and former activist of the

Sąjūdis The Sąjūdis (, ), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first oppositi ...

during the

Singing Revolution The Singing Revolution was a series of events from 1987 to 1991 that led to the restoration of independence of the three Soviet-occupied Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at the end of the Cold War. The term was coined by a ...

, known for his criticism of liberalism and

multiple citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

, as well as

Eurosceptic Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies and seek refor ...

views. During this period, he gained notoriety for a conflict with the administration of

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( Lithuanian: ''Vilniaus universitetas'') is a public research university, which is the first and largest university in Lithuania, as well as one of the oldest and most prominent higher education institutions in Central and Ea ...

, and he claimed he was removed from lecturing in the university's politics and international relations institute because of his right-wing views. In 2019, Radžvilas established the public election committee "Vytautas Radžvilas: Recover the State!" () to participate in the 2019 European Parliament election in Lithuania. Though he claimed that the

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 ...

is powerless, he likened it to the Congress of the People's Deputies in the last years of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and that it will determine the future of the organization. The committee received 3.35 percent of the votes and did not win any seats. After the election, the movement considered unification with

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

presidential candidate

Arvydas Juozaitis Arvydas Juozaitis (born 18 April 1956 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian writer, philosopher, politician, cultural worker and former swimmer who won a bronze medal in the 100 meter breaststroke at the 1976 Summer Olympics. In 1988, he was a member o ...

and the Christian Union, but it failed due to personal conflict and a separate National Alliance was founded on 7 March 2020. It received 2.21 percent of the vote in the 2020 parliamentary election, and received no seats in the

. In 2021, the party received personal thanks from

Viktor Orban The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

for their endorsement of

Hungarian anti-LGBT law In June 2021, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a law titled "Act LXXIX of 2021 on taking more severe action against paedophile offenders and amending certain Acts for the protection of children". Referred to in English as Hungary's anti-LGBTQ l ...

s. Most of the party's votes came from

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. According to political scientist Matas Baltrukevičius, it represents the same electorate as the Lithuanian List, a short-lived

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

party which was founded in 2012 and represented in the municipal council of Vilnius from 2015 to 2019.

Gaining representation at municipal and national levels (since 2023)

In the 2023 municipal elections, it won three seats on the municipal council of

Vilnius City Municipality Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, its most successful election result. One of the party's councillors, Aleksandras Nemunaitis, was expelled in April 2023, as he joined the effort to nominate

Artūras Zuokas Artūras Zuokas (born 21 February 1968) is a Lithuanian journalist, businessman and politician who served as the mayor of the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, from 2000 to 2007 and again from 2011 to 2015, and as member of Lithuania's unicameral pa ...

leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the Vilnius municipal council, even though the party opposed this move. In the

2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election The 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election was held on 13 and 27 October 2024 to elect the 141 members of the Seimas. Parliament members were elected in 71 single-member constituencies using the two-round system, and the remaining 70 in a single ...

, the party gained representation, when party's deputy leader Vytautas Sinica won a single member constituency in Vilnius.

Program and ideology

The National Alliance is generally described as a

party. It claims to be an all-national movement that seeks to restore the ideas of

, the national movement which was responsible for the restoration of Lithuania's independence in 1990. The party is described as nationalist, with a dream to make "Lithuania forever Lithuanian." It claims to represent a nationalist,

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

, Christian worldview, opposes

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 legalization of

, and demands

lustration Lustration in Central and Eastern Europe is the official public procedure of scrutinizing a public official or a candidate for public office in terms of their history as a witting confidential collaborator (informant) of relevant former commun ...

of all former informants of the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

. The party's primary objective is opposition to the national strategy of "Global Lithuania", which seeks to maintain the

Lithuanian diaspora Lithuanians () are a Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil ...

as an integral part of a "global" Lithuanian state, and demands a strategy towards limiting

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

and encouraging emigrant return. It is also opposed to

and states that its purpose is to defend

Christianity in Lithuania According to the Lithuanian census of 2021, the predominant religion in Lithuania is Christianity, with the largest confession being that of the Catholic Church (about 74% of the population). There are smaller groups of Orthodox Christians, Eva ...

and the

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

ethnicity from extinction. Economically, the party holds certain

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

and interventionist views, such as instituting

progressive taxation A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

, strengthening the

social safety net A social safety net (SSN) consists of non-contributory assistance existing to improve lives of vulnerable families and individuals experiencing poverty and destitution. Examples of SSNs are previously-contributory social pensions, in-kind and foo ...

and increasing funding for the education system, although it also seeks to "destroy the mentality of dependency" and cut benefits for certain social groups, such as

alcoholics Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (hu ...

persons and single mothers whose children's father's identity is unknown. It does not seek Lithuania's

withdrawal from the European Union Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to ha ...

, but opposes further integration and demands more powers to be returned to the organization's member states. It also demands that the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

formally recognize its

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

heritage.

Election results

Seimas

European Parliament

Municipal

References

External links

Official website
{{Lithuanian political parties Political parties established in 2020 Social conservative parties Right-wing parties in Europe National conservative parties Conservative parties in Lithuania Nationalist parties in Lithuania Far-right politics in Lithuania