Lithuanian president impeached

The Baltic News Service, a local agency, said two-thirds of the assembly found the former Soviet stunt pilot guilty on all three counts -- granting citizenship to a Russian businessman in return for campaign funding, breaching official secrets and influencing the outcome of a privatization.

The scandal has embarrassed the country of 3.6 million people, which won independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, as it returns to the European mainstream. It joined Nato last week and enters the European Union in May with a booming economy.

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Lithuania's security chief and parliamentary panels accused Paksas' advisers of links to Russian mobsters, raising fears the latter would use Lithuania to gain access to the enlarged EU.

Those charges were dropped to avoid jeopardizing security agents and the case centered on businessman Yuri Borisov, who financed Paksas' election campaign and hired him a public relations company alleged to have links to Russian intelligence.

In return Paksas granted him Lithuanian citizenship, warned him he was under surveillance by Lithuanian police for alleged blackmail, and finally tried last month to appoint Borisov his adviser -- although Borisov does not speak Lithuanian.