Over the past decade, Vytautas Sinica has been one of the most prominent conservative voices in the Lithuanian public sphere. Sinica, who holds a Ph.D. in political theory from Vilnius University, is also an accomplished author who has published more than twenty books in the fields of philosophy, history, and politics.
In 2020, he co-founded and became vice chairman of a new national conservative party, National Alliance (Nacionalinis Susivienijimas, NS), and since then he has been voted among the top 30 most influential politicians in Lithuania in consecutive years—despite holding any elected position. After completing his doctoral thesis last year on the philosophical foundations of the unification of modern Europe, he was subsequently elected to the municipal council of Lithuania’s capital city, Vilnius, in March.
What are the ideas driving Sinica and the National Alliance? What is their stance on the war in Ukraine? Sinica discussed these topics, and Lithuanian politics more broadly, in a recent interview with The European Conservative.
National Alliance has had three councilors elected in Vilnius. How did you campaign, and did you expect this result?
The main goal of this election for us was to get into the council of Vilnius. The number of seats we would win was a completely secondary priority. We see this election as a step towards the European parliamentary elections and the national elections next year. The main purpose of our campaign was to show Lithuanian society that it is possible for a new national conservative party to be elected and to actually compete with the incumbent parties that rule Lithuania now.
To understand that approach, it is worth noting that Lithuania may be the last country in the European Union which has no national conservative party in the Seimas, or Lithuanian Parliament, nor any conservative delegates in the European Parliament. In fact, there are no relevant conservative parties at all. The current ruling party, the Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (Tėvynės sąjunga–Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, TS–LKD), has traditionally been regarded as ‘conservative’ and is still successful at convincing older citizens of this, but to the contrary, Homeland Union is pretty much leftist and globalist, and extremely in favor of the federalization of Europe. They support same-sex partnerships and so-called ‘hate speech’ laws, censor national history, and promote linguistic and national diversity in the country, even though Lithuania has no mass immigration from other continents, at least for now. All traditional parties have become very similar in ideology, and it is only a question of practicing moderate or extreme leftism.
In such a context, we saw a need to create a solid, professional national conservative party. We did that in 2020, but the first steps are difficult. So, making it to the council of the capital—which, after all, is the most liberal part of the country—was, foremost, a message to the people and to the political system: we are capable, we are coming, and you will not cast away your vote voting for us.
Your success is all the more significant considering that four parliamentary parties were left out in the most recent elections. What were the main ideas the National Alliance campaigned on in these elections?
Municipal elections in Lithuania are widely seen as a non-ideological matter. People are usually looking for simply the best manager in their opinion. It was a bit different this time in Vilnius, however. The former mayor, Remigijus Šimašius, and his extreme leftist Freedom Party started implementing the ‘15-minute city’ vision in Vilnius. Šimašius said it best: “Our mission is to deconstruct Vilnius.” This included streets, the city’s heritage, city planning, green spaces, everything. So, one thing we emphasized was our opposition to that, saying that Vilnius is now being deconstructed to be built anew; we promise to save it and instead rationalise its planning and services, without letting ideology get in the way. Another message was the one to our core base as national conservatives: that of respect for national identity, history, and the morals of our nation. A city is interesting to the world as much as it is unique and able to emphasize its history and culture. Following global trends is the opposite of that.
We are still quite a small budget party, and competing with parliamentary parties that are hugely funded from the state budget was a difficult task. We stood in three other municipalities and came up short in all of them—although in one of them, Ignalina, only ten more votes were needed to win the seat. Yet, we managed to get more votes than four parliamentary parties. The result speaks for itself. I believe that this was because of three things: our authenticity, our competence, and our resistance to political correctness. At least part of the society really longs for that.
What is your opinion about the results of this election in general?
It is quite clear that parties that are in the ruling coalition today were punished by voters. They lost many seats and many mayorships. On the other hand, their losses were less than what had been expected. In Lithuania today, dissatisfaction with the government is at record levels: eight out of 10 people in Lithuania believe that situation in the country is getting worse. Still, the main ruling party, Homeland Union, secured a quite stable level of support, managing to win about 40% of the seats and the mayorship in Vilnius. That is because those in favor of the ruling party stay with it no matter what, while for the others, disaffection grows. In turn, that explains the low voter turnout: half of the people in the country simply don’t believe that elections can deliver change.
Those who believe in change, voted mostly for left-leaning parties. Social Democrats clearly won the election, while other nominally left-wing parties also gained seats. It is very important to have in mind that in Lithuania, in contrast to, let’s say, Western Europe, the so-called center-right parties are the most progressive and leftist, though it sounds paradoxical. And so, their stronghold is the capital, a comparatively progressive city, while in most countries it is the left-wing parties that win in the biggest cities. In Lithuania, nominally left-wing parties are the ones from the ‘traditional Left,’ so to speak. Their voters are more concentrated in the periphery, with lesser income and education; thus, they do not adopt a progressive leftist agenda. Social Democrats tried that in 2020 and it backfired badly. So now in Lithuania, the mainstream ‘Right’ is way more progressive than the mainstream Left, and when the Left wins municipal elections, it is in part a backlash to the progressivism of the ‘center-right’ government. You can hardly say that about most countries in Europe.
On 16 February, Lithuania celebrated its independence from the Russian Empire in 1918, and on 11 March, its independence from the USSR in 1991. Has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine awakened the fears of the past?
Mostly because of our history with Russia, Lithuanian society sees Russia as a constant threat and the war in Ukraine as existential for our own survival. Russia is a threat and would probably have attacked the Baltic states if it hadn’t been stopped in Ukraine. For about twenty years, Lithuania has been telling its Western partners, first of all Germany, to stop their ‘business as usual’ relations with Russia. For Russia, it is never business: it is always political and geopolitical influence. There is completely no use in saying that we were right all along. But it needs to be said that Lithuania has no fears of the past. It just has a clearer understanding of Russia’s imperialist thinking.
By the way, this understanding applies to the conservatives in Lithuania. There are pro-Kremlin conservative movements, but in general, conservative people in Lithuania understand that Putin is in no way the defender of Christian values, of life and family, that he claims to be. This is all a public image, instrumental for his need to gather support among Europeans and frame his imperialist wars as a fight for a higher cause: a fight against the decadence of the West. There is no such fight. Putin’s Russia is a secular, multicultural country with high abortion and divorce rates. Atrocities that this regime and its subjects commit on a daily basis have nothing to do with Christian values. Conservatives should note that.
How important to your party is support for Ukraine?
There is a prominent belief in Lithuania that Ukraine is now fighting for our freedom too, therefore, we must help Ukraine in any way we can. It is not only a moral obligation, but in our best interest. I agree with that notion, as does our party. By sending help, and most importantly, weapons, to Ukraine, we are keeping the fight away from our soil and in Ukraine. It is cruel, but it is the objective truth, and Ukrainians definitely understand it. Politically, Lithuania must do everything it can to explain the Russian threat and importance of a Ukrainian victory to our NATO partners. This is the best support we can give as a small country.
Just like most Lithuanians, members of our party have been donating to Ukraine, delivering aid themselves, and accepting refugees into their homes. Last autumn, our party also completed a donation campaign and delivered the goods to Kyiv ourselves. One of our members—an extreme travels journalist who goes by the name of Praeities Žvalgas (‘Scout of the Past’) is especially prominent in raising support to Ukraine and delivers it directly to the frontline. It must be noted that he, like many other Lithuanian Facebook users, was banned by Facebook after blaming Russians for their war crimes. Facebook is systematically defending Russia in this war, at least among Lithuanian users.
A few months ago, in an interview with Polish television, you said that the idea of permanent peace is an illusion. Has this war put an end to European naïvete?
It clearly did not. Western Europe, or at least its leaders, still live in an outdated reality where Russia is a necessary member at the peace talks table. Both Macron and Scholz keep saying that we cannot allow this war to escalate to the point where there is no possibility to remain to pre-war relations with Russia. They sincerely want that: to go back to previous relations with Russia, buying gas and oil at cheap prices that gives their industry an edge in the international markets. They are gravely mistaken. The best thing that can happen to Europe is Russian weakness and disintegration. The best way forward is no way back, and that is achievable only by sending Ukraine enough military support to give it the upper hand.
Up until now, everything NATO countries did was reactionary—a step too late after the escalation on Russian side. Only by changing that can we change the course of this war. But as your question suggests, a change in action can only follow a change in attitude. Naivete is still there, and it is preventing us from pursuing our best interest.
In Latvia, the patriots of the National Alliance have been part of the government for years, while in Estonia, EKRE (the Conservative People’s Party) is the second political force and also has had government responsibilities. What role do you think your party will play in the future of Lithuania?
I like to think on a step-by-step basis. As we were elected to the Vilnius council, our next step is to win a mandate in the upcoming European Parliament elections. I believe we can do that and build on it. In 2019, we participated in the European Parliamentary elections as an electoral committee—not yet as a party—and received 3.3% of the vote. We must get 5% next year and establish ourselves as a parliamentary party. I don’t have to tell you that for as long as we are not in parliament, we receive almost no publicity and media attention. Many people just don’t know about us yet or have only heard a distorted narrative about a fascist party,” as has been the case with so many other parties all over Europe—Giorgia Meloni and the Fratelli d’Italia party being the latest example. People must see us in parliament, on talk shows, and at popular events, defending ideas that they hold dear with sound arguments and solid bearing.
There is no other national conservative party to fill this horrible gap in the Lithuanian political spectrum. As I mentioned at the beginning, we are the last country in Europe where those principles have no representation. This situation is extraordinary, unsustainable, and has to change. Either we deliver that change, or Lithuania will remain in a prolonged cycle of disappointments, with opportunistic politicians pretending to be conservative, with no will and no capacity to really fight for a conservative vision for Lithuania and for Europe.
