Lithuanian President Hangs on

The president of Lithuania defied demands for his resignation yesterday, after a parliamentary report confirmed claims from the security service of presidential ties to Russian mobsters.

The prime minister, Algirdas Brazauskas, and the speaker of parliament turned on Rolandas Paksas, urging him to step down. "This is all a problem of one person - the president," Mr Brazauskas told national radio.

But despite being abandoned by most aides, and several street demonstrators in the past fortnight, Mr Paksas issued a statement yesterday in which he refused to go. "In none of my decrees, in none of my actions, have I violated the constitution, the law or my oath," he said.

Parliament last night approved the findings that the president imperilled national security and decided to draw up a detailed impeachment charge sheet. The process will be embarrassing at a time when the small Baltic country is on the threshold of joining Nato and the EU.