LITHUANIA: The final vote to decide whether to impeach Lithuanian President Rolandas Paksas will be held just ahead of the country's entry to the EU, a deputy speaker of parliament said yesterday.
Mr Ceslovas Jursenas said he expected the last leg in the marathon process to impeach Mr Paksas - over accusations that he broke the law and violated his oath of office - will start next week and probably finish in the month before Lithuania's scheduled May 1st entry to the EU.
Parliament is due to start plenary hearings next Monday, while the Constitutional Court will consider the accusations against Mr Paksas in a parallel review.
Mr Paksas, a Soviet-trained stunt pilot who has served two brief stints as prime minister, is facing impeachment over a flurry of accusations which also include links to Russian mobsters and intelligence.
A parliamentary panel has already found that he violated the law and his oath on several counts.
The Paksas affair has greatly embarrassed Lithuania before it joins NATO in April and the European Union in May, raising fears that Russian mobsters will use the ex-Soviet state as a springboard for illegal activities across an enlarged EU.
Mr Paksas rejects the accusations as an elitist conspiracy against a man of the people and has vowed to fight to the bitter end, but four months of chaos is threatening to twist the country's image from post-Soviet success to political farce. - (Reuters)