Stjepan Radic vs Valdas Adamkus

Radic co-founded the Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) with his brother Antun. The party advocated for the rights of Croatian peasants, land reform, and Croatian autonomy within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, becoming a major political force.

Radic was imprisoned by the Yugoslav authorities for his opposition to the centralist constitution and his advocacy for Croatian autonomy. His imprisonment made him a martyr for the Croatian cause and increased his popularity.

Radic took the Croatian Peasant Party into the Peasant International (Green International) in Moscow, aligning with the Soviet Union. This move shocked Yugoslav authorities and led to his arrest and the party's temporary ban.

Radic was shot by Montenegrin Serb politician Puni

Valdas Adamkus was elected President of Lithuania in January 1998, winning the runoff election with 50.4% of the vote. He was a former US Environmental Protection Agency official and ran as an independent, focusing on European integration and economic reform.

Adamkus was re-elected for a second term in June 2004, winning 52.6% of the vote in the runoff. His second term oversaw Lithuania's accession to the European Union and NATO, and he continued to push for economic and judicial reforms.

Under Adamkus's presidency, Lithuania joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, along with nine other countries. This was a major milestone in Lithuania's post-Soviet integration into Western institutions, and Adamkus played a key role in the negotiations.