For this season, I will be claiming Lithuania!

Lithuania is one of the Baltic states, which gained independence following the fall of the Soviet Union. In the intervening time, it has become a member of both NATO and the European Union. While the country experienced significant economic growth during the early 2000s, there was a significant decline in 2009, and weak growth since. As a result, between 2004 and 2016 one out of five Lithuanians left the country to seek economic opportunities abroad, mostly in other EU nations.

The country maintains close ties with EU nations, but has seen relations with Russia grow colder following Russia's intervention in the Ukraine. The country reinstated conscription into the Lithuanian Armed Services in 2015 in response.

Politically, the country's president and prime minister are independents, though the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union holds the head of the coalitional government. The party is a center-right green party with strong agrarian roots.