Gabrielius Landsbergis (born 7 January 1982 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 18th Government of the Republic of Lithuania led by the Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. He is a

Member of the Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

for Centras –

Žaliakalnis Žaliakalnis (literally, "the green hill") is an Elderships of Lithuania, elderate in Lithuania's second largest city, Kaunas. Žaliakalnis is located north of the old town and the city center area, between the Neris and Girstupis valleys. It is on ...

constituency, and a former

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

. He was a member of Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats). Landsbergis was elected as the Chairman of the

Homeland Union The Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats ( lt, Tėvynės sąjunga Lietuvos krikščionys demokratai, TS–LKD), also known colloquially simply as the Conservatives, is a centre-right political party in Lithuania. It has 18,000 mem ...

in 2015. He is credited with modernising Homeland Union. On 11 December 2020, he was approved to be the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in the

Šimonytė Cabinet Šimonytė Cabinet is the 18th cabinet of Lithuania since 1990. It consists of the current Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė who is the Head of Government, and 14 government ministers from the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Li ...

Biography

Gabrielus Landsbergis was born in Vilnius, the 7th of January 1982. He is the grandson of the leader of Lithuania after gaining independence from the Soviet Union,

Vytautas Landsbergis Vytautas Landsbergis (born 18 October 1932) is a Lithuanian politician and former Member of the European Parliament. He was the first Speaker of Reconstituent Seimas of Lithuania after its independence declaration from the Soviet Union. He has ...

. Vytautas Landsbergis was the founder of the Lithuanian independence movement and organisation “Sąjūdis”. In 2003, Landsbergis graduated from the Faculty of History,

Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...

and gained a bachelor's degree; in 2005, he graduated from Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science, gaining a master's degree in

International Relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

and Diplomacy. He worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the Chancellery of the President of Lithuania. In 2007 he joined the staff of the Lithuanian embassy in the

Kingdom of Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the ...

and to the

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

. Landsbergis returned to

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in 2011 and worked in the Chancellery of the Government of Lithuania. Landsbergis speaks Lithuanian (native) and English.

Member of the European Parliament (2014–2016)

On 8 January 2014, Landsbergis was selected as leading candidate for the Homeland Union's list in

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...

, and was a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

between 2014 and 2016. Landsbergis served on the

Committee on International Trade The Committee on International Trade (INTA) is a committee of the European Parliament. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is Bernd Lange.Subcommittee on Security and Defence The Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE) is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. It is responsible for European security and defence policy, including institutions, capabilities and operations, as we ...

. In addition to his committee assignments, he was a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children's Rights. On 25 April 2015, Landsbergis was elected as Chairman of the Homeland Union, defeating former speaker of the

Seimas The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Seimas), or simply the Seimas (), is the unicameral parliament of Lithuania. The Seimas constitutes the legislative branch of government in Lithuania, enacting laws and amendmen ...

Irena Degutienė Irena Degutienė (born 1 June 1949) is a Lithuanian politician and member of the conservative Homeland Union. She is currently the Deputy Speaker of Seimas, and was twice the acting Prime Minister of Lithuania, first from 4 May 1999 to 18 May 19 ...

in the contest. When Landsbergis asked to meet with Russian MPs and officials in Moscow amid the Ukraine crisis of 2013-15, his request was denied.

Member of Government (since 2016)

In November 2015, Landsbergis was selected to stand in

single-member constituency to the upcoming parliamentary election. Due to the redrawing of single-member constituencies' boundaries, Landsbergis was proposed to the newly established Centras–Žaliakalnis single-member constituency (Centras single-member constituency candidate

Gintarė Skaistė Gintarė Skaistė () (born 4 August 1981) is a Lithuanian politician, Member of the Seimas for Panemunė, Kaunas, Panemunė constituency, economist and PhD of Social Sciences. She was Kaunas, Kaunas City Councillor between 2007 and 2016.

joined the multi-member list instead). By March 2016, Landsbergis resigned from the European Parliament. In the 2016 parliamentary elections, Landsbergis was the only Homeland Union's candidate to win single-member constituency in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

. After these elections, Landsbergis proposed to hold a

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...

, which he won.

Personal life

Landsbergis' father is

Vytautas V. Landsbergis Vytautas V. Landsbergis (born 25 May 1962 in Vilnius): Lithuanian writer, journalist, director of films and theater, children's book writer, son of Vytautas Landsbergis and father of Gabrielius Landsbergis. Life He studied at the Vilnius Vytau ...

, a Lithuanian writer, and his mother is Giedrė Bukelytė. Gabrielius is the grandson of

, a prominent Lithuanian politician, who was one of the founders of Sąjudis and the Chairman of the Reconstituent Seimas of Lithuania after its independence declaration from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. He is married to Austėja Landsbergienė (née Čijauskaitė). The couple has four children.

Honors

Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise ( uk, Орден князя Ярослава Мудрого) is an award of Ukraine. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, ...

, 3rd class (

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, 23 August 2022)

References

External links

Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landsbergis, Gabrielius 1982 births Living people Vilnius University alumni Lithuanian people of German descent Homeland Union MEPs MEPs for Lithuania 2014–2019 Politicians from Vilnius Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 3rd class

Gabrielius Landsbergis Gabrielius Landsbergis (born 7 January 1982 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 18th Government of the Republic of Lithuania led by the Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė. He is a Member of the Seimas for C ...