Veel druk op Paksas om op te stappen (en)

The President of Lithuania, Rolandas Paksas, came under fire yesterday as a Parliamentary report said that his office had links to the Russian mafia and the Russian secret service.

The report labelled him a threat to national security, and a group was set up, which includes members from the two ruling coalition parties, to collect signatures from deputies in favour of impeachment.

Only 36 votes in the 141-seat parliament are needed to start the impeachment proceedings.

Mr Paksas, who has been in the job for less than a year, has denied any wrongdoing and insists he will not resign.

"The goal of the accusers is not to discover the truth, but to break me morally and to destroy me politically", Mr Paksas said in a statement broadcast to the nation.

"Again, I underline that in none of my decrees, in none of my actions have I violated the constitution, the law or my oath".

Yet the 47 year old President, who is a former Soviet stunt pilot, faced added pressure to quit as the prime minister, Algirdas Brazauskas, and the speaker of parliament are urging him to step down.

Thousands of demonstrators also took to the streets of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, at the weekend to demand Mr Paksas's resignation.

This issue comes at a critical time as Lithuania gets ready to join the EU and NATO next year.