Lithuanian politician
Dovilė Šakalienė (born 1 June 1978) is a Lithuanian psychologist, journalist, and politician who has been serving as the Minister of National Defence since 12 December 2024.[2] She has been a member of the Seimas since 2016 and previously worked as a psychologist and human rights advocate.
Biography
Šakalienė completed high school in Panevėžys in 1996 and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from Vilnius University in 2001. She later received a degree in legal psychology from Mykolas Romeris University in 2003.[3] From 2004 to 2016, she worked at the Lithuanian Human Rights Monitoring Institute, where she criticized legislative proposals restricting LGBT rights and abortion rights.[4]
From 2011 to 2015, she hosted the Žinių radijas program "Man to Man" and served as an accredited journalist at the Council of Europe from 2012 to 2016.[3]
Political career
Šakalienė entered politics as an independent candidate on the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union list in the 2016 Lithuanian parliamentary election. She left the party's parliamentary group in 2017, citing differences over child protection laws, and joined the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania.[5]
During her time in the Seimas, Šakalienė introduced amendments to the Law on the Framework of the Protection of the Rights of the Child, banning corporal punishment and redefining child abuse to include psychological abuse and neglect.[6]
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Šakalienė housed a Ukrainian refugee family and advocated for stronger European defense policies.[7]
Minister of National Defence
After the 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election, Šakalienė was nominated by Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas as Minister of National Defence. She assumed office on 12 December 2024, succeeding Arvydas Anušauskas.[8] As Minister, she focuses on modernizing Lithuania's defense forces, enhancing NATO cooperation, and addressing hybrid threats.
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