The Mayor of Vilnius, officially the Mayor of the municipality of the city of Vilnius ( Lithuanian: ''"Vilniaus miesto savivaldybės meras"'') is the head of the

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 ...

n municipality of the city of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

. The current incumbent is Valdas Benkunskas, following the 2023 Vilnius mayor elections.

Overview

The legislative and local executive powers are exercised by the municipality council ( Lithuanian: ''savivaldybės taryba'') and the directly elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The mayor is both a member and the chairman of the municipality's council. The mayor also proposes candidates to his deputies, the director of municipality administration, and the director's deputies.

History

The mayor's institution was established in 1990 and it replaced the city's executive committee chairman. From 1990 to 2015 the mayor had been elected by the city's council (since 1995 – city's municipality council). Between 1990 and 2003, the mayor was a member of the municipality's board, which performed executive functions. Between 1995 and 2003 the mayor appointed (or fired) eldermen. Since 2015 the mayor is elected directly in a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

by voters registered in the municipality.

Mayors

* Michał Józef Römer – 1812 * Afanasiy Yarzhembskiy – 1876-1883 * Nikolay Rubtsov – 1884-1895 * Konstantin Aleksandrovich Golubinov – 1893-1897 * Pavel Vasilevich Berthold – 1897-1905 *

Michał Węsławski Michał Joachim Alojzy Węsławski (; 17 September 1849 – 22 August 1917) was a Polish people, Polish lawyer and politician who served as the Vilnius city councillor from 1897 to 1905, then mayor (president) from 1905 to 1916, and deputy to th ...

– 1905-1916 * – 1918-1919 * Witold Abramowicz – 1919 * – 1919-1927 * Józef Folejewski – 1927-1932 * – 1932-1939 * – 1941-1944 * Vytautas Bernatonis – 1990–1993 * Alis Vidūnas – 1995–1997 * Algirdas Čiučelis – 1997 *

Rolandas Paksas Rolandas Paksas (; born 10 June 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who was the sixth President of Lithuania from 2003 to 2004. He was previously Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999 and again from 2000 to 2001, and he also served as Mayor of Vilniu ...

– 1997–1999, 2000 *

Juozas Imbrasas Juozas Imbrasas (born 8 January 1941 in Algirdai, Ukmergė district municipality) is the former mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania. He is a member of the political party Order and Justice. Controversy In 2007 Imbrasas came to international attention f ...

– 1999–2000, 2007–2009 * Artūras Zuokas – 2000–2003, 2003–2007, 2011–2015 * Gediminas Paviržis – 2003 * Vilius Navickas – 2009–2010 * Raimundas Alekna – 2010–2011 *

Remigijus Šimašius Remigijus Šimašius (born 12 January 1974) is a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, member of Seimas (2012–2015), Minister of Justice (2008–2012), Mayor of Vilnius since 2015. Education In 1997 Šimašius graduated from the Faculty of ...

– 2015-2023 * Valdas Benkunskas – since 2023

References

Bibliography

* * {{Vilnius

Mayors of Vilnius