Vygaudas Ušackas (born 16 December 1964 in

Skuodas Skuodas (; Samogitian: ''Skouds'') is a city located in Klaipėda County, in northwestern Lithuania, on the border with Latvia. The Bartuva river flows through the town. History Skuodas was first mentioned in written sources in 1253. At t ...

, Lithuania) is Member of the Board of Directors of a Lithuanian born European-American company Avia Solutions Group, which is a Leader in End-to-End Capacity Provider for Passenger and Cargo Airlines Worldwide. Vygaudas Usackas is a former Lithuanian diplomat, from September 2013 to October 2017 he served as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

's Ambassador to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Prior to that he served as the EU Special Representative for

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Prior to heading Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ušackas was the Ambassador of Lithuania to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

from 2001 through 2006, then Ambassador to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Founder of Mission Siberia.

Early life and education

Vygaudas Ušackas was born in 1964 in Skuodas, Lithuania. In 1982 he finished Skuodas school and enrolled to the

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 ...

, there he received law degree in 1990. Later he continued his studies at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

and the Aarhus University,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, specializing in international politics and trade.

Diplomatic Service

Between 1992 and 1996 he worked as an adviser to Lithuania's mission to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

, soon afterwards he assumed post Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Between 2000 and 2001 he was the chief negotiator of Lithuania's accession to the

. After the 2008 election,

Andrius Kubilius Andrius Kubilius (born 8 December 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Lithuania from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.LR Vyriausio ...

presented Vygaudas Ušackas as candidate for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs to President

Valdas Adamkus Valdas Adamkus (; born Voldemaras Adamkavičius; 3 November 1926) is a Lithuanian-American politician, diplomat and civil engineer. He served as the 5th and 7th President of Lithuania from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2009. Adamkus' ...

. On 22 March 2010 he was appointed by Catherine Ashton as the

's special envoy for

.Council decision 2010/168/CFSP of 22 March 2010 appointing the European Union Special Representative in Afghanistan

Official Journal of the European Union An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

, L 75, 23 March 2010 As of 1 September 2013 Vygaudas Ušackas serves as Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to the Russian Federation. In 2019, Vygaudas Ušackas announced leaving politics to start a career in business.

Private life

He has two children: Raimundas, who was born in 1991, and Paula, born in 1993. In addition to the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 mill ...

, which is his native language, he is fluent in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and French. After leaving politics, Vygaudas Ušackas became Member of the Board of Directors at

Avia Solutions Group Avia Solutions Group is a provider of aviation capacity solutions for passenger and cargo airlines worldwide. Headquartered in Vilnius (Lithuania), the group manages over 100 offices and production facilities globally and employs a majority of its ...

References

Vygaudas Ušackas
(Lithuanian Embassy, UK; retrieved on 2008-12-03) Living people 1964 births Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Lithuanian jurists Vilnius University alumni Ambassadors of Lithuania to the United States Ambassadors of Lithuania to Mexico Ambassadors of Lithuania to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of the European Union to Afghanistan Ambassadors of the European Union to Russia People from Skuodas Lithuanian officials of the European Union Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class {{Lithuania-politician-stub