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	Saint Petersburg 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 in a row.

Before becoming president, Grybauskaitė was the Minister of Finance for Lithuania. She also worked as a European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget from 2004 to 2009. People often call her the "Iron Lady" or the "Steel Magnolia" because she is known for being strong and determined.

Early Life and Education

Dalia Grybauskaitė was born on 1 March 1956 in Vilnius, Lithuania. At that time, Lithuania was under Soviet control. Her mother, Vitalija Korsakaitė, worked as a saleswoman. Her father, Polikarpas Grybauskas, was an electrician and driver.

Dalia went to Salomėja Nėris High School. She has said that she wasn't the best student, usually getting fours out of five. Her favorite subjects were history, geography, and physics.

Starting Her Career

When she was 19, Grybauskaitė worked for a year at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society. After that, she studied political economy at Saint Petersburg State University in Russia. While studying, she also worked in a factory.

In 1983, she finished her studies and returned to Vilnius. She worked at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Later, she taught political economics and global finance at the Vilnius Communist Party High School.

After Lithuania became independent from the Soviet Union in 1990, Grybauskaitė continued her education. She studied at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., USA.

Early Political Roles

From 1991 to 1993, Dalia Grybauskaitė worked at the Ministry of International Economic Relations in Lithuania. She was the Director of the European Department.

Working with the European Union

In 1993, she moved to the Foreign Ministry. She helped Lithuania join European Union free trade agreements. She also worked as a special envoy and minister at Lithuania's mission to the EU in Brussels. She was involved in talks for Lithuania to join the European Union.

From 1996 to 1999, Grybauskaitė was a minister at the Lithuanian embassy in the United States. After that, she became the deputy Minister of Finance. In this role, she led Lithuania's talks with big financial groups like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

In 2000, she became the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs. Then, in 2001, she became the Minister of Finance. Lithuania joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, and Grybauskaitė was named a European Commissioner on the same day.

Becoming a European Commissioner

Dalia Grybauskaitė first served as the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth. This role involved overseeing education and culture across Europe.

Leading on Budget Matters

In November 2004, she became the European Commissioner for Financial Programming and the Budget. This meant she was in charge of how the European Union planned and spent its money.

In 2005, she was named "Commissioner of the Year" by European Voice. She received this award for trying to make the EU spend more money on things like research and development, which help countries grow. She said the award was for all the new EU countries, showing they bring fresh ideas.

As the Budget Commissioner, she often said the EU budget was "not a budget for the 21st century." She felt too much money was spent on farming. She worked to make sure more money was spent on creating jobs and economic growth. She also criticized the Lithuanian government for not preparing enough for a coming financial crisis.

Running for President in 2009

On 26 February 2009, Dalia Grybauskaitė announced she would run for president in Lithuania. She said she wanted to bring truth, openness, and responsibility back to the country. She promised to use her experience to help Lithuania.

Grybauskaitė giving an interview during her 2009 presidential campaign.

There were seven candidates in the election. Polls showed that Grybauskaitė was the clear favorite. She ran as an independent candidate, meaning she wasn't officially part of a political party.

Focusing on Lithuania's Economy

Her campaign focused mainly on problems within Lithuania. The country was facing a serious economic downturn. Many people had lost their jobs. Grybauskaitė promised to help people with low incomes. She also wanted to make the government simpler and review how it spent money. She also promised to improve Lithuania's foreign policy.

Grybauskaitė celebrating her landslide victory in 2009.

The election happened on 17 May 2009. Grybauskaitė won by a huge margin, getting 69.1% of the votes. This made her the first female president of Lithuania. She also won by the largest margin ever in a free Lithuanian election.

Experts said she won easily because she understood money matters well and avoided political scandals. The international news called her the "Lithuanian Iron Lady" because she spoke her mind and had a black belt in karate. Grybauskaitė speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian, French, and Polish. She has said that Margaret Thatcher and Mahatma Gandhi are her role models.

Presidency (2009–2019)

Dalia Grybauskaitė became president on 12 July 2009. She decided to accept only half of her presidential salary. Her first visits as president were to Sweden and Latvia.

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

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

Leadership Style

During her time as president, Grybauskaitė was known for having a very strong leadership style. She used her powers effectively and often met with prime ministers and other ministers to share her views.

She is generally seen as a president who worked well with conservative and liberal voters.

Government Challenges in 2012

After the 2012 Lithuanian parliamentary election, Grybauskaitė said she would not approve any government that included the Labour Party. This party had won many seats. She had concerns about the Labour Party's past actions and saw them as too close to Russia.

However, she could not stop the Labour Party from forming a government with the Social Democrats. Even so, Grybauskaitė remained very influential. She carefully checked the candidates for minister positions. She even tested some candidates on their English language skills.

Foreign Policy

Relations with Russia

Grybauskaitė and Petro Poroshenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, December 2016

At the start of her first term, Grybauskaitė tried to improve relations with Russia. In 2010, she met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. After this meeting, she realized that Russia was not willing to treat its neighbors as equals. She felt they wanted Lithuania to give in to their demands. After this, relations between Lithuania and Russia became more strained.

In December 2013, Grybauskaitė decided to boycott the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia. Other Western leaders also boycotted the games because of Russia's actions and human rights issues. Relations with Russia got much worse during her second term. This was partly because she took a strong stand against Russian influence, especially after the conflict in Ukraine began.

In May 2014, Grybauskaitė said that relying on Russian gas was a "threat" to Lithuania. After her reelection, she said that relations between countries should be based on "dignity, self-respect, and mutual benefit."

In June 2014, she told a German magazine that Putin was using nationality as an excuse to take land with military force. She compared his actions to those of Stalin and Hitler. In November 2014, she called Russia a "terrorist state" because of its actions in Ukraine.

In June 2018, Grybauskaitė warned that Lithuania should be ready for a Russian invasion. She also said that Western countries would only "wake up" when Russia attacked them. In December 2018, she told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that Lithuania would send more military help to Ukraine. This included ammunition, military instructors, and cyber security experts.

Relations with the EU and United States

In December 2014, Grybauskaitė said that Lithuania would take responsibility for a secret CIA-operated prison that had been in Lithuania.

When British Prime Minister Theresa May talked about being a "bridge" between the European Union and the United States, Grybauskaitė joked that "We communicate with the Americans on Twitter." In March 2017, she criticized the government of Poland for not supporting Donald Tusk to continue as President of the European Council.

Brexit

In January 2019, Grybauskaitė said that a "no-deal Brexit" (meaning the UK leaving the EU without an agreement) would be better than delaying Brexit. She believed the EU could make smaller agreements to help if there was no deal.

After the Presidency (2019–present)

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

In March 2020, Grybauskaitė was chosen to co-chair a special panel called the High Level Panel on International Financial Accountability Transparency and Integrity. This group works on making global finance more honest and open.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Grybauskaitė publicly supported NATO taking direct military action against Russia. She believed that talks had failed and more sanctions would not stop Russia. She wrote on Facebook that "War can be only stopped by a war, which has already started." She also questioned why NATO countries were hesitant to get involved in Ukraine when they had in other places like Syria and Afghanistan.

In 2024, she received an award from Hillary Clinton for her strong opposition to Russian aggression. Clinton noted that Grybauskaitė had warned about Vladimir Putin's actions early on, even when many people didn't want to listen.

In November 2024, after the 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election, Grybauskaitė strongly criticized the decision of the winning party to form a government with a nationalist party. She called this new government a "Kremlin-scented coalition" and said it was damaging Lithuania's reputation with its EU and NATO partners.

Personal Life

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

Awards and Honors

Dalia Grybauskaitė has received many awards from Lithuania and other countries for her work and leadership.

See also

In Spanish: Dalia Grybauskaitė para niños