Dalia Grybauskaitė facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dalia Grybauskaitė
Official portrait, 2008
8th President of Lithuania
In office 12 July 2009 – 12 July 2019
Prime Minister	Andrius Kubilius Algirdas Butkevičius Saulius Skvernelis
Preceded by	Valdas Adamkus
Succeeded by	Gitanas Nausėda
European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget
In office 22 November 2004 – 1 July 2009
President	José Manuel Barroso
Preceded by	Michaele Schreyer Markos Kyprianou (Budget)
Succeeded by	Algirdas Šemeta
European Commissioner for Education and Culture
In office 1 May 2004 – 11 November 2004 Served with Viviane Reding
President	Romano Prodi
Preceded by	Viviane Reding
Succeeded by	Ján Figeľ (Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism)
Minister of Finance
In office 12 July 2001 – 1 May 2004
Prime Minister	Algirdas Brazauskas
Preceded by	Jonas Lionginas
Succeeded by	Algirdas Butkevičius
Personal details
Born	(1956-03-01) 1 March 1956 (age 69) Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union (now Lithuania)
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1983–1989) Communist Party of Lithuania (1989–1990) Independent (1990–present)
Alma mater	Leningrad State University Georgetown University
Signature

Dalia Grybauskaitė (born 1 March 1956) is a Lithuanian politician. She served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She was the first woman to hold this important position. In 2014, she also became the first Lithuanian President to be reelected for a second time. Before becoming president, Grybauskaitė was Lithuania's Minister of Finance. She also worked as a European Commissioner for the European Union. People sometimes call her the "Iron Lady" because she is strong and determined.

Dalia Grybauskaitė: Her Early Life and Education

Dalia Grybauskaitė was born on March 1, 1956, in Vilnius, Lithuania. Her family was working-class. Her mother, Vitalija Korsakaitė, was a saleswoman. Her father, Polikarpas Grybauskas, worked as an electrician and driver.

School Days and Sports

Dalia went to Salomėja Nėris High School. She said she wasn't the best student, usually getting fours out of five. Her favorite subjects were history, geography, and physics. When she was eleven, she started playing basketball and loved it.

University and Early Work

At nineteen, Dalia worked for a year at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society. Then, she went to Saint Petersburg State University in Russia to study political economy. While studying, she also worked in a local factory. In 1983, she graduated and returned to Vilnius. She worked at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Later, she lectured on political economics and global finance at the Vilnius Communist Party High School.

Studying Abroad

In 1990, Lithuania became independent from the Soviet Union. Dalia continued her studies at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., USA. She joined a special program for senior executives.

Dalia Grybauskaitė's Career Before Presidency

After her studies, Dalia Grybauskaitė worked in various important roles.

Working for Lithuania's Government

From 1991 to 1993, she was the Director of the European Department at Lithuania's Ministry of International Economic Relations. She then worked at the Foreign Ministry. She helped Lithuania join European Union free trade agreements. She also helped coordinate aid from other countries. Soon after, she became a special representative for Lithuania at the European Union in Brussels.

Roles in Finance and Foreign Affairs

In 1996, Dalia became a minister at the Lithuanian embassy in the United States. She held this role until 1999. Then, she became the deputy Minister of Finance. In this job, she led Lithuania's talks with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. In 2000, she became Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2001, she became the full Minister of Finance.

Becoming a European Commissioner

Lithuania joined the European Union on May 1, 2004. On the same day, Dalia Grybauskaitė was named a European Commissioner.

European Commission Work

Dalia Grybauskaitė first served as the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. This role lasted until November 2004. Then, she became the European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget. She worked in this role under President José Manuel Barroso.

"Commissioner of the Year" Award

In November 2005, Dalia was named "Commissioner of the Year" by a European newspaper. She received this award for trying to make the EU spend more money on things like research. She said it was an honor for all new EU countries. She also said it was a prize for being brave enough to speak the truth about Europe's budget.

Improving the EU Budget

As the Financial and Budget Commissioner, she openly criticized the EU budget. She said it was "not a budget for the 21st century." Most of the EU's money was spent on farming. Grybauskaitė changed this. In 2008, for the first time, more money was spent on growth and jobs than on agriculture. She also warned the Lithuanian government about the coming financial crisis.

2009 Presidential Election

On February 26, 2009, Dalia Grybauskaitė announced she would run for president. She said she wanted to return to Lithuania if people needed her. She promised truth, openness, and responsibility for the country. She wanted people to live without fear and have confidence in their future.

Grybauskaitė giving an interview during her 2009 presidential campaign.

Campaign Focus

Polls showed Grybauskaitė was the clear favorite. She ran as an independent candidate. Her campaign focused on problems within Lithuania. The country was facing a deep economic downturn. The unemployment rate was high. Dalia promised to help people with low incomes. She also wanted to make the government simpler. She promised a more balanced approach to foreign policy.

Grybauskaitė celebrating her landslide victory in 2009.

A Historic Victory

The election was held on May 17, 2009. Grybauskaitė won by a large margin, getting 69.1% of the votes. This was the biggest win in a free election in Lithuania's history. She became the first female president of Lithuania. News outlets called her the "Lithuanian Iron Lady." This was because of her strong way of speaking and her black belt in karate. She speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian, French, and Polish. She has mentioned Margaret Thatcher and Mahatma Gandhi as her role models.

Presidency (2009–2019)

Dalia Grybauskaitė became president on July 12, 2009. She decided to accept only half of her presidential salary. Her first visits as president were to Sweden and Latvia. In 2011, she visited Norway. She supported the NATO-led military action in Libya.

Grybauskaitė inaugurating Arvydas Pocius as the commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces on 28 July 2009.

Grybauskaitė meeting with Polish President Lech Kaczyński in Vilnius, on 8 April 2010

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Grybauskaitė in Vilnius, 7 September 2013

Grybauskaitė and Chief of Defence of Lithuania Arvydas Pocius.

In 2014, Grybauskaitė was reelected as President. She won with 58% of the vote in the second round.

Domestic Policy

Leadership Style

Experts say that the President's office was very strong during Grybauskaitė's time. She used her powers effectively. She often met with prime ministers and ministers to share her views. During her reelection campaign, some accused her of being too controlling. However, she said she just wanted to use the existing presidential powers better. She was generally seen as a president who worked well with conservative voters.

Government Changes

When Grybauskaitė became president, she promised to fight corruption. She removed several government officials from their positions. For example, she fired a deputy director of the State Security Department. She also recalled a diplomat from the Lithuanian embassy in Georgia.

Working with Parliament

After the 2012 parliamentary election, Grybauskaitė said she would not accept a government that included the Labour Party. This party had many seats in parliament. She saw them as too close to Russia. However, a coalition government was formed with the Labour Party and Social Democrats. Grybauskaitė still had influence. She checked the minister candidates proposed by the Labour Party. She even tested their English skills.

Foreign Policy

Relations with Russia

At the start of her first term, Grybauskaitė tried to improve relations with Russia. In 2010, she met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. She later said that during this meeting, she realized Russia wanted to control its neighbors. She felt they were trying to make Lithuania "kneel." After this meeting, relations between Lithuania and Russia became colder.

Grybauskaitė and Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 2016

Grybauskaitė during the 53rd Munich Security Conference 2017

Grybauskaitė with Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena in May 2019

In 2013, Grybauskaitė decided to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. This was due to concerns about human rights. Relations with Russia worsened during her second term. She took a strong stance against Russian influence in Europe. In 2014, she called dependence on Russian gas an "existential threat" to Lithuania. She also compared Russia's actions to those of Stalin and Hitler. In November 2014, she called Russia a "terrorist state." In 2018, she warned that Lithuania should be ready for a Russian invasion. She also said Lithuania would increase military help to Ukraine.

Relations with the EU and United States

In 2014, Grybauskaitė said Lithuania would take responsibility for a secret CIA prison in Lithuania. In 2017, she criticized Poland's government for not supporting Donald Tusk for President of the European Council.

Brexit

In January 2019, Grybauskaitė said that a "no-deal Brexit" would be better than delaying Brexit. She believed the EU could make smaller agreements to help if there was no deal.

Post-Presidency (2019–Present)

After her presidency ended in 2019, Dalia Grybauskaitė continued to be active internationally.

Grybauskaitė meeting with President of Taiwan William Lai Ching-te during her visit to Taiwan (2024)

In March 2020, she was appointed as a co-chair of a special panel. This panel works on international financial transparency. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Grybauskaitė publicly supported strong action against Russia. She believed that diplomatic talks had failed. She said, "War can be only stopped by a war, which has already started."

In 2024, she received an award from Hillary Clinton. Clinton praised Grybauskaitė for her early warnings about Russia's actions. In November 2024, Grybauskaitė criticized the decision of the Lithuanian Social Democrats to form a government with a nationalist party. She called it a "Kremlin-scented coalition."

Personal Life

Besides her native Lithuanian, Dalia Grybauskaitė speaks English, Russian, and Polish fluently. She also speaks some French. She has a black belt in karate.

Awards

Dalia Grybauskaitė has received many national and international awards for her work:

See also

In Spanish: Dalia Grybauskaitė para niños