Gabrielius Landsbergis

Gabrielius Landsbergis (born 7 January 1982 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian politician, a Member of the Seimas for Centras - Žaliakalnis constituency,[1] and a former member of the European Parliament.[2] He was a member of Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats). Landsbergis was elected as the Chairman of the Homeland Union in 2015.

Gabrielius Landsbergis

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania
Assumed office
11 December 2020
Prime MinisterIngrida Šimonytė
Preceded byLinas Linkevičius
Leader of the Opposition
In office
10 March 2020  12 November 2020
Preceded byJulius Sabatauskas
Succeeded byTBA
Member of Seimas
Assumed office
14 November 2016
Preceded byRasa Juknevičienė (Žaliakalnis)
Vincė Vaidevutė Margevičienė (Centras)
ConstituencyCentras - Žaliakalnis
Chairman of the Homeland Union
Assumed office
25 April 2015
Preceded byAndrius Kubilius
Member of the European Parliament
for Lithuania
In office
1 July 2014  12 May 2016
Succeeded byLaima Liucija Andrikienė
Personal details
Born (1982-01-07) 7 January 1982
Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union
Political partyHomeland Union
Spouse(s)Austėja Landsbergienė (m.2000)
Children4

On 11 December 2020, he was approved to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Šimonytė Cabinet.[3]

Biography

In 2003, Landsbergis graduated from Faculty of History, Vilnius University 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 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 Belgium. Landsbergis returned to Lithuania in 2011 and worked in the Chancellery of the Government of Lithuania.[4]

Member of the European Parliament (2014–2016)

On 8 January, 2014, Landsbergis has been selected as leading candidate for the Homeland Union's list in 2014 European Parliament election.[5]

Landsbergis has been a Member of the European Parliament between 2014 and 2016. He was elected to the European Parliament as the member of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats.

Landsbergis served on the Committee on International Trade and on the Subcommittee on Security and Defence. In addition to his committee assignments, he is a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Children’s Rights.[6]

On 25 April 2015, Landsbergis was elected as the Chairman of the Homeland Union, defeating former speaker of the Seimas Irena Degutienė in the contest.[7]

When Landsbergis requested to meet with Russian MPs and officials in Moscow amid the Ukraine crisis, this was denied in early 2015.[8]

Member of Seimas (since 2016)

In November 2015, Landsbergis has been selected to stand in Žaliakalnis single-member constituency to the upcoming parliamentary election.[9] Due to 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 joined multi-member list instead).[10]

By March 2016, Landsbergis resigned from the European Parliament. In 2016 parliamentary elections, Landsbergis was the only Homeland Union's candidate to win single-member constituency in Kaunas.[11] After these elections, Landsbergis proposed to held leadership election, which he had won.

Family wealth, conflict of interest investigation

Landsbergis ranked among the 5 wealthiest members of the 2016-2020 Seimas primarily due to his wife's chain of private schools and kindergarters which are partly funded from public sources, with estimated wealth of EUR19.9 million.[12] Questions have been raised about suspicious business transactions but the matter did not go to court, although National Tax Inspection did start a formal investigation.[13]

Personal life

Landsbergis' father is Vytautas V. Landsbergis, a Lithuanian writer, and his mother is Giedrė Bukelytė. Gabrielius is the grandson of Vytautas Landsbergis, a prominent Lithuanian politician.

He is married to Austėja Landsbergienė. The couple has four children.

Footnotes

Seimas
Preceded by
Vincė Vaidevutė Margevičienė (Centras)
Rasa Juknevičienė (Žaliakalnis)
Member of the Seimas for Centras and Žaliakalnis
2016–present
Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Linas Antanas Linkevičius
Minister of Foreign Affairs
2020–present
Incumbent
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