Grybauskaitė discussing the European Commission's provisional draft budget for 2006 Recorded 27 April 2005
Dalia Grybauskaitė (Lithuanian pronunciation:[dɐˈlʲɛɡʲrʲiːbɐʊsˈkɐ̂ˑɪtʲeː]; born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighthpresident of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is thefirst and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be reelected for a second consecutive term.[1][2]
Grybauskaitė was born on 1 March 1956 to a working-class family inVilnius during theSoviet occupation of Lithuania. Her mother, Vitalija Korsakaitė (1922–1989), was born in theBiržai region and worked as a saleswoman. Her father, Polikarpas Grybauskas (1928–2008), was anelectrician and driver. He also was aNKVD serviceman during theSecond World War.[dubious –discuss][citation needed] Grybauskaitė attendedSalomėja Nėris High School. She has two brothers, one living in Lithuania, and the other living inColorado Springs, in the United States. She has described herself as not among the best students, receiving mostly fours in a system where five was the highest grade. Her favourite subjects were history,geography andphysics.[6]
Grybauskaitė began participating in sports at the age of eleven, and became a passionate basketball player.[6] At the age of nineteen, she worked for a year at theLithuanian National Philharmonic Society as a staff inspector. She then enrolled inA.A. Zhdanov State University in Leningrad, as a student ofpolitical economy.[7] At the same time, she began working in a local factory in Leningrad. In 1983, Grybauskaitė graduated with a citation and returned to Vilnius, taking a secretarial position at theAcademy of Sciences. Work in the academy was scarce and so she moved to the Vilnius Communist Party High School, where she lectured in political economics and global finance.[7] From 1983 to December 1989, she was a member of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union and after the Communist Party of Lithuania broke away from the CPSU in December 1989, she was member of theCPL until June 1990. In 1988, she defended her PhD thesis at Moscow (Academy of Social Sciences).
Between 1991 and 1993, Grybauskaitė worked as Director of the European Department at the Ministry of International Economic Relations of the Republic of Lithuania. During 1993, she was employed in the Foreign Ministry as director of the Economic Relations Department, and represented Lithuania when it entered theEuropean Union free trade agreements. She also chaired the Aid Coordination Committee (Phare and theG24). Soon afterwards, she was named Extraordinary Envoy and Plenipotentiary Minister at the Lithuanian Mission to the EU.[8] There, she worked as the deputy chief negotiator for the EUEurope Agreement and as a representative of the National Aid Co-ordination inBrussels.
In 1996, Grybauskaitė was appointed Plenipotentiary Minister in the United States' Lithuanian embassy. She held this position until 1999, when she was appointed deputyMinister of Finance. As part of this role, she led Lithuanian negotiations with theWorld Bank andInternational Monetary Fund. In 2000, Grybauskaitė became Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, going on in 2001 to becomeMinister of Finance in theAlgirdas Brazauskas government.[9] Lithuania joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, and Grybauskaitė was named a European Commissioner on the same day.[7]
In November 2005, Grybauskaitė was named "Commissioner of the Year" in theEuropean VoiceEuropeans of the Year poll. She was nominated "for her unrelenting efforts to shift EU spending towards areas that would enhance competitiveness such as research and development." She commented:
I don't usually participate in contests, so this is a very pleasant surprise for me. I consider it a distinction not for me personally, but for all thenew EU Member States, both small and large, as an acknowledgment of their bringing a new and fresh perspective to the EU. I think that it's also a prize for having the courage to speak the often difficult truth and to point out the real price ofpolitical rhetoric in Europe. As for results, we still have to wait for them. An agreement on the budget for 2007–2013, which Europe really needs, is most important.[10]
As Financial and Budget Commissioner, she strongly criticized theEU budget, stating it was "not a budget for the 21st century."[11] The majority of the EU budget was spent on agricultural programmes. Grybauskaitė presented a 2008 EU budget in which, for the first time in its history, spending on growth and employment constituted the highest share of the budget, exceeding that of agriculture and natural resources.[12] She frequently criticised the Lithuanian Government, headed by Prime MinisterGediminas Kirkilas, for its lack of response to the approaching financial crisis.[13]
On 26 February 2009, Grybauskaitė officially announced her candidacy for the2009 presidential election. In her declaration speech, she said:
I decided to return to Lithuania if theLithuanian people decide I am needed there now. I think that we all long for the truth, transparency and responsibility for our country. We all want to live without fear, with confidence in ourselves, in each other, and in tomorrow. I can and I want to contribute with my experience, knowledge and skills to expel shadows from morality, politics, and economics to create a citizen-ruled Lithuania – a state of citizens. Therefore, I will run for the Lithuanian presidency.[14]
Grybauskaitė giving an interview during her 2009 presidential campaign.
There were three women and four men as presidential candidates. Opinion polls taken in February 2009 showed that Grybauskaitė was the undisputed leader in the race.[15] She ran as an independent, although she was supported by the dominantChristian Democrats as well as by NGOs, includingSąjūdis.[16][17]
Her campaign was primarily focused on domestic issues. After years ofstrong economic growth, Lithuania faced a deeprecession, with double-digit declines in economic indicators. The unemployment rate rose to 15.5% in March 2009, and a January street protest against the government's response to the recession turned violent.[18] During the campaign, Grybauskaitė stressed the need to combat the financial troubles by protecting those with the lowest incomes, simplifying the Lithuanianbureaucratic apparatus, and reviewing the government's investment programme.[19] She also promised a more balanced approach in conducting foreign policy, the primary constitutional role of the Lithuanian presidency.
Grybauskaitė celebrating her landslide victory in 2009.
The election was held on 17 May 2009. Grybauskaitė won in a landslide, receiving 69.1% of the valid vote.[20] The 51.6% turnout was just above the threshold needed to avoid a runoff election.[21] In winning the election, Grybauskaitė became not only the first female president of Lithuania, but won by the largest margin recorded for a free election in Lithuania.[22]
Political analysts attributed the easy victory to Grybauskaitė's financial competence and her ability to avoid domestic scandals.[21] The international press was quick to dub her the "Lithuanian Iron Lady" for her outspoken speech and herblack belt inkarate.[23][24] Grybauskaitė, who speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian, French and Polish,[23] has mentionedMargaret Thatcher andMahatma Gandhi as her political role models.[25]
Grybauskaitė inauguratingArvydas Pocius as the commander of theLithuanian Armed Forces on 28 July 2009.Grybauskaitė meeting with Polish PresidentLech Kaczyński in Vilnius, on 8 April 2010 U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry meets with Grybauskaitė in Vilnius, 7 September 2013Grybauskaitė and Chief of Defence of LithuaniaArvydas Pocius.
Grybauskaitė assumed presidential duties on 12 July 2009, and accepted half of her presidential salary (312,000litas).[18] Her first presidential visits abroad were made to Sweden andLatvia;[26] in April 2011, she made a state visit toNorway.[27] Grybauskaitė supported theNATO-led military intervention in Libya.[28]
According to Tapio Raunio and Thomas Sedelios, the office of President during Grybauskaitė's two terms was the strongest in Lithuanian history since 1990.[29] Grybauskaitė took advantage of grey areas in theConstitution of Lithuania to accrue additional competences, such as a monopoly on Lithuania's representation in theEuropean Council, and often made use of informal power, such as personal meetings between the Presidential office, Prime Ministers and individual ministers, to express positions on matters outside of the Presidency's competences.[30]
During the campaign for the2014 Lithuanian presidential election, Grybauskaitė was accused of "autocracy" and collusion with theHomeland Union.[31] However, Grybauskaitė publicly stated that she does not support granting additional powers to the Presidency, instead claiming that the existing Presidential powers should be "used more effectively".[32]
Grybauskaitė is generally seen as a President friendly to theHomeland Union, and polls most strongly with conservative and liberal voters.[30]
At time of Grybauskaitė's inauguration in 2009, the"Statesmen" conspiracy theory had been prominent in the press since the death ofState Security Department (VSD) officerVytautas Pociūnas in 2006. Proponents of the theory claimed that adeep state, led by officials in the VSD and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, sought to take control of the country.[33] Grybauskaitė's election platform included a vow to combat corruption in the government, as well as "the system".[34] After her inauguration, several state officials implicated in the conspiracy theory were removed from office. In August 2009, in a controversial decree, she fired deputy director of the VSDDarius Jurgelevičius, whileMečys Laurinkus was accused of politicking in diplomatic service and recalled from the Lithuanian embassy inGeorgia in late 2009.[33]Valdas Vasiliauskas described it as "a war between the President and the Statesmen".[35]
By late 2010, the Homeland Union, who were the most active promoters of the conspiracy theory, dropped their interest in it and ceased investigations in government institutions such as the VSD,[36] although it was still maintained by independent journalists,[37] theCivic Democracy Party[38] and theWay of Courage party.[39]
After the2012 Lithuanian parliamentary election, Grybauskaitė declared that she would not accept any proposed cabinet which includes theLabour Party, which earned the second largest number of seats in the Seimas in the election.[40] Labour, apopulist political party led by Russian-born businessmanViktor Uspaskich, was implicated in the so-called "dark accounting" case in 2006 and was also seen by the President as apro-Russian party. However, Grybauskaitė was unable to prevent the formation of a coalition between Labour and theSocial Democrats, which took office as theButkevičius Cabinet.
Grybauskaitė remained influential during the rest of the term and vetted Labour-proposed minister candidates with various means, including testing ministerial candidates on their knowledge of English.[41] After theElectoral Action of Poles in Lithuania left the coalition in 2014 and their ministerJarosław Niewierowicz resigned, the position of Minister of Energy officially fell to Labour, but Niewierowicz's replacement,Rokas Masiulis, was widely seen as Grybauskaitė's candidate.[30]
At the beginning of her first term, Grybauskaitė tried to reset relations with Russia and check whether pragmatic relations with Russia were possible. In 2010, Grybauskaitė even met with Russian Prime MinisterVladimir Putin in Helsinki. After her presidency, Grybauskaitė described the meeting as a clarifying point, stating "I realised that this person and country is not willing to accept their neighbors honorably, that they are trying to make you kneel on your knees; Either you give in, or you are the enemy."[42] During the meeting, according to her, Putin presented a list of demands to fulfill, encompassing increasing the interconnectedness and interdependence of theLithuanian–Russian energy sectors. The president found these unconsiderable as an avenue for the Russian coercion.[42] After this meeting, relations between Lithuania and Russia began to cool down.[43]
On 19 December 2013, Grybauskaitė decided to boycott theSochi Winter Olympics together with other Western leaders, including German presidentJoachim Gauck, French presidentFrançois Hollande, and the US presidentBarack Obama, due to Russia's human rights violations, attitudes and behaviour with Eastern partners and Lithuania.[44] Relations with Russia markedly deteriorated during Grybauskaitė's second term in office, due in part to her hard line stance against Russian influence in Europe and theBaltics, especially after the start of theRusso-Ukrainian War.
In May 2014, Grybauskaitė called the dependence onRussian gas an "existential threat" to Lithuania.[45]
Following her reelection in May 2014, she said "Dignity, self-respect and mutual benefit, these are the principles that should set the basis for relations between countries and no doubt, knowing that this is our neighbor, we wish this country to democratize and cope with the arising economic challenges".[46]
In June 2014, Grybauskaitė told the German news magazineFocus: "[Putin] uses nationality as a pretext to conquer territory with military means. That's exactly whatStalin andHitler did." She also claimed that Russia and Putin were "characterised by aggressiveness, violence, and a willingness to overstep boundaries."[47]
On 20 November 2014, Grybauskaitė, commenting on theRusso-Ukrainian war, characterized Russia as "a terrorist state which carries out an open aggression against its neighbors".[48]
In June 2018, Grybauskaitė said that Lithuania should be ready for Russianinvasion. She also said that Western states will "wake up" only "when they have been attacked" by Russia.[49]
In December 2018, Grybauskaitė told Ukrainian PresidentPetro Poroshenko that Lithuania would increase military assistance toUkraine: "We will additionally supply more ammunition, send more military instructors and cyber security experts to help repel hybrid attacks, especially during the elections."[50]
Regarding British Prime MinisterTheresa May's comments on acting as a "bridge" between theEuropean Union and the United States, Grybauskaitė said that "I don't think there is a necessity for a bridge. We communicate with the Americans on Twitter."[52][53] In March 2017, Grybauskaitė criticized the government ofPoland and Prime MinisterBeata Szydło for not endorsingDonald Tusk again for thePresident of the European Council.[54]
In January 2019, Grybauskaitė said a "no-deal Brexit" would be better than delaying Brexit. She said the EU would negotiate mini or sectoral arrangements to mitigate a no-deal scenario.[55]
Following the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Grybauskaitė publicly supported a directNATO military confrontation withRussia believing the diplomatic negotiations had failed and more sanctions won't deter Russia from pursuing its military goals. "War can be only stopped by a war, which has already started," Grybauskaitė wrote onFacebook. "I'm ashamed to hear that leaders and officials of NATO states are muttering about not being able to involve in the conflict but being fine with it in the case ofSyria,Libya,Africa,Yugoslavia, andAfghanistan?" she added.[57]
In 2024, Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards recognized Grybauskaitė for her opposition to Russian aggression, withClinton noting "her prescient warnings about the growing aggressiveness of Vladimir Putin, warnings that a lot of people did not want to hear at that time, with the hope that ignoring him and them would cause them to disappear, but Dalia understood the threats that an aggressive Russia under Putin posed before many others did."[58]
In November 2024, following theLithuanian parliamentary election, Grybauskaitė sharply criticized the decision of the victoriousSocial Democrats to ally in a coalition with the nationalist partyDawn of Nemunas, whose founderRemigijus Žemaitaitis is known for antisemitic statements.[59] She wrote that she viewed the incoming government as a "Kremlin-scented coalition with fascistbrownshirt seasoning" and that the inclusion of Dawn of Nemunas was already causing "irreparable reputational damage" to Lithuania in the eyes of its EU and NATO partners.[59]
Grybauskaitė is often praised by supporters for her strength of leadership, while in office, she was presented as a dutiful politician who fights corruption and seeks to establish order in the country. Opponents would often characterise Grybauskaitė's style of leadership asauthoritarian-like.[62]
In 2015, Grybauskaitė received some backlash inLatvia as well as Lithuania after an interview forLatvian Television. The conversation took a different turn after journalist Gundars Rēders asked about the possibility of legalisation ofsame-sex marriages in Lithuania. ThePresident of Lithuania responded by saying that there are no discussions regarding this question and added: "I think we did not agree on these questions. We agreed on questions and you don't try to drag me on for 40 minutes. If you're finished with your questions, we're finished." Grybauskaitė demanded that the latter segment of the interview would be cut out and turned down any further questions, saying: "You cannot ask non-agreed questions for the President. I don't give such kind of interviews."[63]
Latvians, especially the journalist community, expressed their dismay on social media towards the Lithuanian President. Latvian journalist Inga Spriņģe reacted to the interview on Twitter, by saying: "Hmm, if Grybauskaitė demanded so fiercely to cut out the questions that were not agreed upon beforehand, I have a feeling that for Lithuanian journalists it is the norm."[64][65]
Grybauskaitė has repeatedly denied having any ties with the Soviet intelligence services.[66] Lithuanian investigative journalist Rūta Janutienė made an episode on Grybauskaitė showcasing various documents about her possible ties with the KGB but this episode never officially aired onTV3.[67][68] In 2015, politicianZigmas Vaišvila had appealed to theMinistry of Internal Affairs of Russia as well as the Embassy of Russia in Lithuania for them to disclose the information about whether or not Grybauskaitė worked for the USSR Embassy in the US in 1991. Russian institutions had refused to provide any insight on the matter stating: "According to the Article 7 on Personal Data of the Federal Law, operators and inner employees who have access to personal data are obligated not to disclose any information to a third party or share any personal information without the consent of the subject to whom it belongs."[69]EUvsDisinfo has documented the accusations as disinformation spread by the pro-Kremlin media[70] whereasThe Insider has claimed the ex-KGB agent allegations about Grybauskaitė being false noting that the letters allegedly written in 1982 contain inaccuracies and suspicious formulations.[71]
During an interview, the creator of the documentaryThe Secret of the State about Grybauskaitė, Donatas Ulvydas, claimed she did go to a KGB school.[72] According to Ulvydas, she stated: "Yes, I was studying there and there's nothing here more to talk about."[73] Despite Ulvydas' explanation that his former claim waslapsus linguae on Facebook, politicianNaglis Puteikis attempted to launch an investigation in the LithuanianSeimas, but the initiative did not get enough support.[74]
In September 2019, Grybauskaitė was at the centre of the "tulip post" corruption scandal, which was one of the greatest blows to her political career.[75][76] Emails from 2014 to 2016 suggested that the President possibly knew about the unlawful relations between politicianEligijus Masiulis and the business group MG Baltic. She had also allegedly pressured Masiulis into following her orders such as convincing the then-rulingSocial Democratic Party, to preventSaulius Skvernelis from getting a post "if he goes to a party that is not aiming for acoalition". The scandal had significantly affected the President's ratings with the polls indicating a drop of almost 11% of support from the general public. The per cent of people having a negative opinion about Grybauskaitė rose from 18.5% to 27.5%. The President stated that she cannot confirm the authenticity of these emails but confirmed her correspondence with politicians.[76]
^Skard, Torild (2014) "Kazimiera Prunskiene and Dalia Grybauskaite" inWomen of power – half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press,ISBN978-1-44731-578-0, pp. 335–40.
^abJablonskaitė, Dovilė (7 March 2009)."Mąslių akių mergaitė" (in Lithuanian). Klaipėda diena. Archived fromthe original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved18 May 2009.
^abcGrybauskaitė, Dalia."Apie Mane" (in Lithuanian). Archived fromthe original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved20 May 2009.
^"D. Grybauskaitė sieks prezidento posto" (in Lithuanian).Lithuanian National Radio and Television. 26 February 2009. Retrieved20 May 2009.Aš apsisprendžiau, kad sutinku grįžti į ietuvą, jei Lietuvos žmonės nuspręs, kad esu reikalinga dabar Lietuvoje. Manau, kad visi esame pasiilgę tiesos, skaidrumo ir atsakomybės už savo šalį. Norime visi gyventi be baimės, pasitikėdami savimi, vienas kitu ir rytojumi. Galiu ir noriu skirti savo patirtį, žinias bei gebėjimus tam, kad išguitume šešėlius iš moralės, politikos, ekonomikos ir sukurtume tokią piliečių Lietuvą, piliečių valstybę. Todėl dalyvausiu Lietuvos prezidento rinkimuose.[dead link]
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