Egidijus Vareikis, Member of the Seimas, entrusted with great responsibilities at the PACE

Press release, 28 January 2020

Photo by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which has met in Strasbourg this week, elected its leadership. Egidijus Vareikis, a representative from the Seimas delegation, was unanimously approved as Vice-President of the Assembly for a one-year term.   

Egidijus Vareikis has been a member of the PACE since 2005.  He is among the most long-standing members of parliament and the most active member of the Lithuanian delegation as a participant and speaker at PACE meetings. Over the years of his membership, Mr Vareikis has produced over 20 reports and other documents of the PACE, has taken part in numerous election observation missions, was a rapporteur for Bosnia and Herzegovina and chaired the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs.     

Currently, Mr Vareikis is a member of several committees of the PACE, rapporteur for Moldova, and Chair of the Sub-Committee on Conflicts between Council of Europe Member States.    

According to Egidijus Vareikis, the PACE is going through a difficult period, including internal disagreements over Russia’s policies, the need to monitor dozens of countries with extremely vulnerable democracy, and failure to fully implement the conventions of the Council of Europe. ‘Lithuania is esteemed for being a stable democracy whose best practices are taken into account. Lithuania can give added value to the Council of Europe as a whole, and the leadership position is a truly great responsibility,’ said the newly elected Vice-President of the PACE.        

Selija Levin, Adviser, International Relations Unit, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6216,

e-mail: [email protected]