Petras Auštrevičius


Petras Auštrevičius is a Lithuanian liberal politician, diplomat, civil society activist, former member of Seimas, and since 2014, a member of the European Parliament.

Education

In 1981, Auštrevičius graduated from Vilnius Secondary School No. 39. Afterwards, he continued his studies at Vilnius University in the Faculty of Economics, where he received a degree in Economics in 1986. He then worked as a Junior Research Fellow at the Institute of Economics, located at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, from 1988 to 1991. From 1992 to 1993, Auštrevičius pursued a diplomat-training program at the Hoover Institution at the University of Stanford in California.

Professional career

From 1991 to 1992, Auštrevičius worked as a Senior Specialist and was the First Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was subsequently appointed as the Head of the Nordic States Division for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served from 1992 to 1993. In 1993, Auštrevičius became a Chargé d'Affaires ad Interim of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Finland, a position he held until 1994. From 1994 to 1997, he served as Lithuania’s Ambassador to Finland, and at the age of 31, became the youngest ambassador in Lithuanian history.
Following this placement, he worked as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Policy. Auštrevičius then became the Director General for the European Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania in 1998, after which he acted as Chancellor in the Office of the Government from 1999 to 2000.
In 2000, he was appointed as an Ambassador at Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Afterwards, in 2001, Auštrevičius worked as a Chief Negotiator for Lithuania’s Membership of the European Union.
From 2000 to 2003, he held the position of Director General at European Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, later serving as a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University from 2003 to 2004.
In 2004, Auštrevičius became a Deputy Chancellor of the Government for European Union Affairs.

Political career

Member of the Lithuanian Parliament (2004–2014)

During a span of ten years, Auštrevičius was a member of Seimas, where he served three terms until his election to the European Parliament in 2014.
Auštrevičius vigorously involved himself with Lithuanian foreign affairs and foreign policy fields, where he worked to develop Lithuania´s relations with the EU. Initially, he served as the Deputy Speaker of the Board of the Seimas, the Deputy Chair at Committee on European Affairs, and a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In addition to these positions, he acted as members of the Commission on the Problems of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, the Commission for NATO Affairs, and the Conference of Chairs, also serving as Deputy Chair of the Seimas Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
Regarding his political affiliation, Auštrevičius was a member of the Liberal and Centre Union of Lithuania. However, in 2006, he co-founded the Liberals Movement of Lithuania, and from 2006 to 2008, served as its chairman.

Member of the European Parliament (2014–present)

In the 2014 European elections, Auštrevičius was elected as a member of European Parliament, where he was appointed as vice-president of the ALDE political faction for the period 2014-2017. He also serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, acts as a coordinator for ALDE in the Subcommittee on Human Rights, and is chairing the delegation for relations with Afghanistan. In addition to these positions, he is a substitute member for each the Committee on Regional Development, Committee of Inquiry to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion, the Delegation to the EU-Moldova Parliamentary Cooperation Committee, and the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.
As a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Auštrevičius was charged with assessing the European Union Association Agreement with Moldova for the Parliament.
In 2015, news media reported that Auštrevičius was included in a Russian blacklist of prominent people from the European Union who are not allowed to enter the country.

Awards

Auštrevičius is the initiator and supporter of the public movement Knowledge Economy Forum and People for Animals.
In 2005, he co-founded and served as a president of a discussion Europos Klubas at Seimas, founded Vilnius University Alumni Society of the Faculty of Economics.
In December 2014, Auštrevičius founded the EU Informal Group "Friends of European Ukraine" in the European Parliament. He is the current co-chair that represents the European Parliament, and chairs together with Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze and Ostap Semerak on the side of the Ukraine.

Publications