Vairas (literally: steering wheel; also translated as helm or rudder) was a Lithuanian-language political and cultural newspaper published by Antanas Smetona and the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, the ruling party in Lithuania in 1926–1940.
The newspaper was briefly revived in September 1923 when Smetona and Augustinas Voldemaras harshly criticized their political opponents and the Lithuanian government.
Smetona, the first President of Lithuania in April 1919 – June 1920, and Augustinas Voldemaras, the first Prime Minister in November–December 1918, relentlessly criticized their political opponents, the Lithuanian government, and the Second Seimas.
[5] The magazine was edited by Domas Cesevičius, Bronius Dirmeikis, Vladas Nausėdas, Izidorius Tamošaitis, Stasys Leskaitis-Ivošiškis (1938), and Kazys Dausa (1939–1940).
[6] The Lithuanian Nationalist Union was the ruling party in Lithuania since the December 1926 coup and published its official daily Lietuvos aidas.
[7] A group of members of Young Lithuania, the youth organization of the Lithuanian Nationalist Union, took editorial control of Vairas and became known as vairininkai.
They believed all political parties to be a hurdle towards creating a monolithic state with an unquestioned absolute leader at the top (cf.
Vytautas Alantas published an article in Vairas arguing in favor of an ethnic cleansing in the Vilnius Region after it was returned to Lithuania according to the terms of the Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty – he cited Nazi Germany as an example writing that "the Germans turned the city of Gdynia into the most German city in their country through a fully mechanical process – people were moved out and other people were moved in".