Lithuanians vote in parliamentary election with many looking for change despite a strong economy

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanians voted Sunday in the first round of parliamentary elections that could lead to the center-right governing coalition being replaced by the opposition Social Democrats and smaller center-left parties.

Despite economic successes, strict COVID-19 measures and an influx of migrants have cast shadows over conservative Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s government, which took office in 2020.

Although European Union member Lithuania has seen annual double-digit personal income growth and has one of the lowest inflation rates in the 27-nation bloc, many voters don’t seem to be impressed.

“There’s a lot of disappointment and discontent among voters,” said Rima Urbonaitė, a political analyst at Vilnius’ Mykolas Romeris University. “It is related to numerous crises and shocks and cannot be compensated by economic factors like positive change in purchasing power.”

Šimonytė has faced criticism for strict measures during the pandemic, with many complaining that her government didn’t do enough to help companies during lockdown. Others say thousands of people didn’t have proper access to health care services.

Šimonytė also has been lambasted for her handling of migrants arriving via Belarus. Lithuania has its eastern neighbor, as well as Russia, of orchestrating the influx of people, mostly from Africa and the Middle East.

A recent survey by pollster Vilmorus says that the Social Democratic Party, led by Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, would top the poll, with twice as many votes as Šimonytė’s Homeland Union. Nemuno Aušra, a newly registered party of right-wing politician Remigijus Žemaitaitis, who was impeached earlier this year for making antisemitic statements, would come in between them.

However no party would obtain more than 20% of the vote, forcing anyone hoping to govern to to look for alliances.

The Social Democrats have ruled out an alliance with Žemaitaitis’ party, meaning that three or four parties, likely small groups representing the political center, will be necessary to form a governing coalition.

“I have voted for the conservatives my entire life, but this year I’m thinking of giving my ballot to another good party, not to them,” said Darius Mikalauskas, a 51-year-old teacher in Vilnius. "Šimonytė and the entire Homeland Union looks battered, worn out and they would better spend some time on the spare bench.”

Analysts say a shift to the left wouldn’t bring significant changes to the foreign policy of Lithuania, which also borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west. But the vote comes at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine is fueling greater fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.

“In this country, the foreign policy course is determined mainly by the president,” Urbonaitė said. Earlier this year, President Gitanas Nauseda beat Šimonytė in the presidential election to take a second five-year term.

In 2020, Šimonytė led her Homeland Union to victory in the parliamentary election. She later formed a coalition with two liberal parties, the Freedom Party and the Liberal Movement.

About 2.4 million people are eligible to elect 141 members of the parliament, or Seimas, for a four-year term in two rounds. On Sunday, 70 lawmakers will be elected by party lists, joined by those in single-mandate constituencies who manage to win more than 50% of votes. The runoff is Oct. 27, when the majority of single-member constituencies will vote to choose between the two leading candidates.

A boy casts a ballot at a polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A girl looks from a voting booth as her relative fills-in a ballot at a polling station during the first round of voting in a parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A woman with a child casts a ballot at a polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Residents cast their ballots at a polling station during the first round of voting in presidential elections in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

Local residents vote at a polling station during the first round of voting in a parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A woman leaves a polling booth at a polling station during the first round of voting in a parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A children stand near a voting booth during the first round of voting in parliamentary election, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

FILE - Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte speaks during a news conference following his meeting with Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk at the government's headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania, on March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis, File)

Local residents wait at a bus stop, with a poster displaying leader of the Social Democratic Party Vilija Blinkeviciute in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

A man with a child casts his ballot at a polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

An elderly woman casts her vote at the polling station during the first round of voting in parliamentary elections, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. Kennedy also said he’s assembling a task force to focus on the issue.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing “new scientific information" on potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water. The EPA has primary authority to set the maximum level of fluoridation in public water systems.

Kennedy told The Associated Press of his plans after a news conference with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in Salt Lake City.

Kennedy can’t order communities to stop fluoridation, but he can tell the CDC to stop recommending it and work with the EPA to change the allowed amount.

Utah last month became the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, pushing past opposition from dentists and national health organizations who warned the move would lead to medical problems that disproportionately affect low-income communities.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox signed legislation barring cities and communities from deciding whether to add the cavity-preventing mineral to their water systems. Water systems across the state must shut down their fluoridation systems by May 7.

Kennedy praised Utah for emerging as “the leader in making America healthy again.” He was flanked by Utah legislative leaders and the sponsor of the state’s fluoride law.

“I’m very, very proud of this state for being the first state to ban it, and I hope many more will,” he said.

Kennedy oversees the CDC, whose recommendations are widely followed but not mandatory. State and local governments decide whether to add fluoride to water and, if so, how much — as long as it doesn’t exceed a maximum set by the EPA, which is currently 4 milligrams per liter.

Zeldin said his agency was launching a renewed examination of scientific studies on the potential health risks of fluoride in drinking water to help inform any changes to the national standards.

“When this evaluation is completed, we will have an updated foundational scientific evaluation that will inform the agency’s future steps,” Zeldin said. “Secretary Kennedy has long been at the forefront of this issue. His advocacy was instrumental in our decision to review fluoride exposure risks, and we are committed to working alongside him, utilizing sound science as we advance our mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the CDC. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and in 1962 set guidelines for how much should be added to water.

Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, has called fluoride a “dangerous neurotoxin” and said it has been associated with arthritis, bone breaks and thyroid disease. Some studies have suggested such links might exist, usually at higher-than-recommended fluoride levels, though some reviewers have questioned the quality of available evidence and said no definitive conclusions can be drawn.

In November, just days before the presidential election, Kennedy declared that Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day as president. That didn't happen, but Trump later picked Kennedy to run the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he has been expected to take some kind of action. Meanwhile, some localities have gone ahead and decisions whether to keep fluoridating water.

Related to all this: A massive round of staffing cuts last week across federal agencies included elimination of the CDC's 20-person Division of Oral Health. That office managed grants to local agencies to improve dental health and, in come cases, encourage fluoridation.

Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main one for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

About one-third of community water systems — 17,000 out of 51,000 across the U.S. — serving more than 60% of the population fluoridated their water, according to a 2022 CDC analysis. The agency currently recommends 0.7 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water.

But over time, studies have documented potential problems. Too much fluoride has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. Studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development.

A report last year by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program, which summarized studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico, concluded that drinking water with more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter — more than twice the recommended level in the U.S. — was associated with lower IQs in kids.

Utah Oral Health Coalition chairperson Lorna Koci said Monday that she hopes other states push back against the removal of fluoride and that Kennedy’s visit to celebrate her state's fluoride ban underscores the political motivations of those who support it.

She predicted children will have more cavities as a result and said backers of the fluoride legislation in Utah spread false information that raised doubts about its effectiveness. Opponents of the law warned it would disproportionately affect low-income residents who may rely on public drinking water containing fluoride as their only source of preventative dental care.

“This seems to be less about fluoride and more about power,” Koci said.

Stobbe reported from New York. Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana, contributed reporting,

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., right, arrives at University of Utah to discuss Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear in Salt Lake City with the EPA administrator and state lawmakers to talk about Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear in Salt Lake City with the EPA administrator and state lawmakers to talk about Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. exits a bus as he visits University of Utah to discuss Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear in Salt Lake City with the EPA administrator and state lawmakers to talk about Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits University of Utah to discuss Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visits University of Utah to discuss Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to appear in Salt Lake City with the EPA administrator and state lawmakers to talk about Utah's new fluoride ban and food additives legislation, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)