Kirkilas Gediminas

Gediminas KIRKILAS is a Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Lithuania (Seimas), a Chairman of the Committee on European Affairs and a Member of the Committee on Culture. Having worked for over 25 years in legislative and executive branches of the government, Mr. Kirkilas has gained substantial experience in the fields of defense policy, foreign affairs, European integration, and various national policy issues. Since the day of independence of Lithuania on March 11th, 1990, Mr. Kirkilas has been involved in the state-building matters and has been elected to the Seimas seven times (in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) with the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania. In 2002-2004, Mr. Kirkilas served as Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Lithuania for the matters related to transit transportation by the Russian Federation to and from the Kaliningrad Region. In 2003, he was awarded the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. On 7 December 2004, he was appointed as the Defense Minister of Lithuania and later served as the Prime Minister of Lithuania from 2006 to 2008. He holds an MBA in Management and Business Administration from the International Business School of Vilnius University.