Lithuania's parliament threw out President Rolandas Paksas 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. The support of at least 85 members of the 141-seat parliament was needed to remove the president from office. A total of 86 deputies voted to oust Paksas for unlawfully granting Lithuanian citizenship to a Russian businessman, who sponsored his election campaign, as well as a second charge of leaking classified information, while 89 voted against him for meddling in private business. Paksas, 47, has consistently denied any wrongdoing, saying the impeachment process was a plot against him. In his first speech to deputies over the scandal since a damning security services report five months ago set him on the path to impeachment, he pleaded his innocence. "I do not feel guilty," he declared, describing the vote as "not only my personal drama or tragedy, but also a challenge for our country". "I ask you, are a few of my mistakes enough to impeach a president?" he said in a 25-minute speech before the vote. Twice Vilnius mayor and twice prime minister, Paksas became president in February 2003, after winning a surprise victory against incumbent Valdas Adamkus, a 77-year-old returned US emigre. The affair that has rocked Lithuania -- which last week became a NATO member and is set to join the European Union on May 1 -- surfaced in October, when Paksas' office was accused in the security services report of links to shady figures. Lithuania now has 10 days to set a date for a new election, which must be held within two months. Zenonas Vaigauskas, the head of Lithuania's central election commission, told Lithuanian television, an election would "probably" be held on June 13, at the same time as elections to the European Parliament. Rolandas Pavilionis, a deputy from Paksas' Liberal Democratic parliamentary group told reporters after party members met Paksas, he had "understood" he would stand again in a new election. Other widely mentioned potential candidates were more coy about whether they would stand. "I am not ready to answer this question today," Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas, Lithuania's last communist-era leader, said on national television. He said he felt "no special joy" at the impeachment. Stand-in-president Paulauskas said he would not yet announce whether he was standing, pointing to the possibility that the major parties would pool forces to pit one strong candidate against Paksas. Adamkus, ousted by Paksas a year ago, who said last week he would consider standing again if asked, said on Lithuanian television he would announce his final decision after Easter. "We have turned perhaps the blackest page of our contemporary history," he said on television of Tuesday's impeachment. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Lithuania's parliament threw out President Rolandas Paksas after 15 months in office, narrowly voting to impeach him on corruption charges just weeks before the former Soviet republic joins the European Union.(AFP/Petras Malukas)