Dawn of Nemunas

The Dawn of Nemunas (Nemuno aušra) is a Lithuanian political party founded by Remigijus Žemaitaitis after his expulsion from the Freedom and Justice party due to his anti-Semitic statements. The party was founded in November 2023 and registered in January 2024.

Background
In May 2023, Remigijus Žemaitaitis published antisemitic comments on Facebook, in which he claimed that “the Jews and Russians” oppressed ethnic Lithuanians during the Second World War and were responsible for the 1944 massacre of the village of Pirčiupiai. The comments were received with harsh criticism and condemnation from Lithuanian politicians, the Lithuanian Jewish community and numerous ambassadors to Lithuania. The office of the Prosecutor General launched an ongoing investigation to Žemaitaitis' actions. On 19 May 2023 Freedom and Justice terminated Žemaitaitis's membership in the party, and Artūras Paulauskas became the party's interim chairman.

Foundation
On 11 November 2023, Remigijus Žemaitaitis announced the creation of a political party under the name Dawn of Nemunas. He also said that his party plans to take part in all elections held in 2024 and nominate its own presidential candidate. Earlier, Žemaitaitis said that he had gathered more than 3,000 people to create the party. He also claimed that most of the Freedom and Justice faction will join the new political force.

The party was registered on 16 January 2024. The party had 2,296 inaugural members during the registration.

Agnė Širinskienė, former member of the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union, and Aidas Gedvilas and Artūras Skardžius, formerly from the Labour Party, joined Dawn of Nemunas on 19 June 2024. With Žemaitaitis' previous resignation from parliament, this increased the party's representation to 3 Members of the Seimas.