Valentinas Mazuronis (born 18 November 1953) is a Lithuanian politician and a member 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 ...

Background

Valentinas Mazuronis was born in

Molėtai Molėtai () ( pl, Malaty) is a town in north eastern Lithuania surrounded by lakes. One of the oldest settlements in Lithuania, it is a popular resort for the inhabitants of Vilnius. According to the 2013 census, it had 6,302 inhabitants. The to ...

. After graduating from high school in

Utena Utena () is a city in north-east Lithuania. It is the administrative center of Utena district and Utena County. Utena is one of the oldest settlements of Lithuania. The name of the city is most probably derived from a hydronym. The name of the s ...

in 1971, he studied in Lithuanian state institute of arts (now

Vilnius Academy of Arts The Vilnius Academy of Arts ( lt, Vilniaus dailės akademija, previously ''State Art Institute of Lithuania'') in Vilnius, Lithuania, grants a variety of degrees in the arts. History The Academy traces its roots back to the creation of the Arc ...

), attaining a degree in architecture in 1976. After the independence, Mazuronis worked as an architect between 1991 and 2004 under sole proprietorship "Valentino Mazuronio projektavimo biuras".

Political career

Between 1991 and 2002 Mazuronis was a member of

Šiauliai Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...

city council. Until 2001, he was the member of the Lithuanian Liberal Union. Upon the split in the party in 2001, Mazuronis joined the Liberal Democratic Party, becoming its chairman in 2002. In 2004, he was elected to 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 amendme ...

under the electoral list of the coalition "for the order and justice", headed by

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 ...

. Mazuronis led the Liberal Democratic parliamentary group. He was elected to the Seimas again in 2004 and was the leader of the opposition. In 2012, Mazuronis was elected to the Seimas for a third term, under the electoral list of

Order and Justice Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

party (formerly Liberal Democratic Party). In December 2012 he was appointed the Minister of Environment. In 2014 Mazuronis was elected as a member of the European Parliament, resigning from his position in the cabinet. In April 2015, Mazuronis left the

and joined the ranks of Labour Party. He was appointed the chairman of the party in May 2015, but resigned after the disappointing performance by the party in the first round of Seimas elections in 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazuronis, Valentinas 1953 births Living people People from Molėtai Vilnius Academy of Arts alumni Order and Justice politicians Liberal Union of Lithuania politicians Labour Party (Lithuania) politicians Environment ministers of Lithuania Members of the Seimas MEPs for Lithuania 2014–2019 Independent politicians in Lithuania