Lithuania's parliament voted President Rolandas Paksas out of office today for his links with Russian business and intelligence.
The Baltic News Service said two-thirds of the assembly found the former Soviet stunt pilot guilty on all three counts - granting citizenship to a Russian businessman in return for campaign funding, breaching official secrets and influencing the outcome of a privatisation.
Mr Paksas is the first European leader to be removed through impeachment.
The scandal has embarrassed the country of 3.6 million people, which won independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, as it returns to the European mainstream. It joined NATO last week and enters the European Union in May with a booming economy.
Lithuania's security chief and parliamentary panels accused Mr Paksas' advisers of links to Russian mobsters, raising fears the latter would use Lithuania to gain access to the enlarged EU.
Those charges were dropped to avoid jeopardising security agents and the case centred on businessman Mr Yuri Borisov, who financed Mr Paksas' election campaign and hired him a public relations company alleged to have links to Russian intelligence.
In return Mr Paksas granted him Lithuanian citizenship, warned him he was under surveillance by Lithuanian police for alleged blackmail, and finally tried last month to appoint Mr Borisov his adviser, despite the fact he does not speak Lithuanian.
A third count accused Mr Paksas (47) of swaying a highway building company's privatisation in favour of his friends.
The president's powers are limited mainly to foreign policy while the prime minister, currently a Social Democrat, runs the country.