Lithuania's parliament threw out President Rolandas Paksas on Tuesday after 15 months in office, narrowly voting to impeach him on corruption charges just weeks before the former Soviet republic joins the EU.
"From this day April 6, 2004 Rolandas Paksas, by decision of the parliament, is dismissed from the post of president of the republic," said supreme court head Vytautas Greicius.
The assembly voted narrowly to oust him on all three charges of violating the Baltic country's constitution, although Paksas had protested his innocence to the end.
The flag was lowered at Paksas' presidential palace in Vilnius' cobbled Old Town as the announcement was made, only to be hoisted again as parliament handed over the reins to speaker Arturas Paulauskas, who under the constitution will stand in for two months pending new elections.
Paksas's fate had effectively been sealed after Lithuania's constitutional court last week found him guilty on three counts of breaching the constitution.