Žygimantas Pavilionis

Born in 1971, Dr. Žygimantas Pavilionis has had a diverse and accomplished career in diplomacy and politics. He began his career in the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he served as the 3rd Secretary in the West European Division and later as an Assistant to the Political Director.  

Throughout the years, Dr. Pavilionis held several significant positions in the Lithuanian MFA, including Acting Head of the Political Cooperation Department and European Correspondent. He also served as Co-Secretary of the EU-Lithuania Association Council at the Lithuanian Permanent Mission to the European Communities. Additionally, he played a vital role as Deputy Chief Negotiator of Lithuania for EU accession and as the Director of the European Integration Department at the Lithuanian MFA. He became the Political Director of the Lithuanian MFA from 2004 to 2008. He later served as the MFA’s Undersecretary and as an ambassador. Notably, he held the position of Ambassador to the United States and Mexico and as the Ambassador at Large for Europe’s East.  

In party politics, Dr. Pavilionis joined Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party in 1992 and served as the Leader of Vilnius Young Christian Democrats. In 2010 he became a member Homeland Union/Lithuanian Christian Democrats. He was elected as a Member of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) in 2016. Within the Parliament, he has been actively involved in committees and groups, including the Foreign Affairs Committee, European Affairs Committee he was a Chair of the Friendship Group with Georgia and Chair of the Transatlantic and Democracy Subcommittee. 

He holds a master’s degree in philosophy from Vilnius University (VU). He also pursued further studies at institutions such as the Universita per Stranieri in Italy, Clingendael Institute of International Relations in the Netherlands, and Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in France. Additionally, he holds a Doctoral Degree in Political Sciences from Vilnius University.  

He is fluent in English, Russian, French, and Italian. He is also currently learning Polish, German, and Spanish. Dr. Žygimantas Pavilionis is married to Asta Mikutavičiūtė-Pavilionienė, and they have four sons.