An extreme nationalist, Vytautas Sustauskas, who is widely accused of being anti-Semitic, was elected mayor of Kaunas, Lithuania 's second city.

ECONOMIST: Politics this week | The

The Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus then presented Mr Bush with the Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great, Lithuania's highest honour.

BBC: Bush welcomes Lithuania into Nato

Last week, several conservative Euro-MPs from the former communist bloc - led by former Lithuanian President Vytautas Landsbergis and Hungarian Joszef Szajer - asked for communist symbols to be treated in the same way as Nazi ones.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | EU rejects Communist symbol ban