LITHUANIA: President Rolandas Paksas of Lithuania was thrown out of office yesterday after the Baltic nation's parliament impeached him over his relationship with a businessman allegedly linked to the Russian mafia and security services.
Mr Paksas, a former champion stunt pilot, failed to sway parliament with a final plea for forgiveness and became Europe's first leader to be impeached, embarrassing Lithuania just days after it joined NATO and weeks before entering the European Union.
The populist leader began a torrid fight for survival five months ago, when suspicions emerged over his ties to Mr Yuri Borisov, the millionaire Russian who bankrolled his surprise election victory last year and was given a Lithuanian passport soon afterwards.
Parliament voted to remove Mr Paksas for granting citizenship to Mr Borisov in return for funding, for telling him that he was under surveillance by the police, and on a separate charge of influencing a privatisation deal. The country's constitutional court had previously deemed Mr Paksas liable to blackmail by Mr Borisov and a danger to national security.
The president's office was also allegedly infiltrated by Russian intelligence through a public relations firm linked to Mr Borisov.
Mr Borisov and Mr Paksas both deny all the charges, arguing that the former prime minister and mayor of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was the victim of a smear campaign by a political establishment who feared his pledge to wipe out corruption.
"This is all the system's revenge against me," Mr Paksas said in his final plea to parliament, after looking by turn cowed and defiant as opponents railed against him once more for dereliction of duty and abuse of power.
"I do not feel guilty. This is a vendetta for my efforts to fight corruption in this country," Mr Paksas said. "I appeal to you, the elected representatives, do my few mistakes merit my impeachment?"
But Mr Paksas's 25-minute address failed to sway a mostly hostile chamber which has for months been calling on him to resign. Mr Arturas Paulauskas, parliamentary speaker and an arch-enemy of Mr Paksas, will now act as interim president before elections which should be held in the next 2½ months, according to the constitution.
Mr Paksas was considered to have a reasonable chance of winning repeat elections until the last fortnight, when a burst of bizarre behaviour damaged his support, which is especially strong in the regions and among the poor and elderly.
He stunned Lithuanians by announcing the appointment of Mr Borisov - a non-Lithuanian, under criminal investigation - as a presidential adviser after a secret night-time tennis match between the two had been caught on a security camera.
He reversed his decision after a massive public outcry, admitted that Mr Borisov had tried to blackmail him and pledged to cut all ties with the helicopter services magnate.
"It was a law-abiding process and a fair decision," Mr Borisov told The Irish Times last night. "He had his only and final chance to sort things out a fortnight ago, and he missed his chance. That's his problem.
"I hope the new president will be a different person who does more," he continued. "This was a pretty shameful page in the country's history."
Mr Paksas's opponents warned that the scandal could damage Lithuania's international standing after years of stability and strong economic growth.
But economic analysts said that the country's business outlook was still rosy, and the EU, which the country joins on May 1st, seemed unperturbed by the president's impeachment.
"It's an internal question," said Mr Diego de Ojeda, a spokesman for the EU's External Relations Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten. "They have followed the rules."