Bronius Markauskas (born 5 November 1960) [1] is a Lithuanian politician. [2] He served as Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet of Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis from 13 December 2016 to 14 May 2018. Giedrius Surplys was appointed as his successor. [3]
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi), with a population of 1.9 million. The country has a temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Riga. Latvians belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian. Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian as their native tongue.
Lithuania is a European country located on the south-eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. It is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the World Trade Organisation. Currently, Lithuania maintains diplomatic relations with 186 states. It became a member of the United Nations on 18 September 1991, and is a signatory to a number of its organizations and other international agreements. It is also a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, NATO and its adjunct North Atlantic Coordinating Council, the Council of Europe, and the European Union. Lithuania gained membership in the World Trade Organization on 31 May 2001.
2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2003rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 3rd year of the 3rd millennium and the 21st century, and the 4th year of the 2000s decade.
Lithuania has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 24 times since its debut in 1994, where "Lopšinė mylimai" performed by Ovidijus Vyšniauskas finished last, receiving "nul points". Lithuania withdrew from the contest, not returning until 1999. The sixth place of the song "We Are the Winners" performed by LT United in 2006 is Lithuania's best result in the contest. The country reached the top ten for a second time in 2016, when "I've Been Waiting for This Night" by Donny Montell finished ninth, and for the third time in 2021, finishing eighth with "Discoteque" by The Roop. The Lithuanian participant broadcaster in the contest is Lietuvos nacionalinis radijas ir televizija (LRT).
Bronius Kutavičius was a Lithuanian composer and academic composition teacher. He wrote numerous oratorios and operas, often inspired by ancient Lithuanian polytheistic beliefs and music. He also composed film scores, orchestral works and chamber music. Kutavičius is regarded as a symbol of Lithuanian cultural identity, both in music and in politics. Among many awards, he received the Lithuanian State Prize in 1987.
Sergio Mattarella is an Italian politician and jurist who has been the 12th president of Italy since 2015. He is the longest-serving president in the history of the Italian Republic. Since Giorgio Napolitano's death in 2023, Mattarella has been the only living Italian president.
Lithuanian partisans were partisans who waged guerrilla warfare in Lithuania against the Soviet Union in 1944–1953. Similar anti-Soviet resistance groups, also known as Forest Brothers and cursed soldiers, fought against Soviet rule in Estonia, Latvia and Poland. An estimated total of 30,000 Lithuanian partisans and their supporters were killed. The Lithuanian partisan war lasted almost for a decade, thus becoming one of the longest partisan wars in Europe.
Dalia Grybauskaitė is a Lithuanian politician who served as the eighth president of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. She is the first and so far only woman to hold the position and in 2014 she became the first President of Lithuania to be reelected for a second consecutive term.
Jonas Valančiūnas is a Lithuanian professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Toronto Raptors with the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft. At the 2019 trade deadline, he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. In the 2021 offseason he was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans. In the 2024 offseason he was traded to the Washington Wizards.
Domantas Sabonis is a Lithuanian-American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Lithuanian national team. Son of the Hall of Fame player Arvydas Sabonis, Sabonis is a two-time All-NBA Team member, three-time NBA All-Star, and has led the league in rebounds twice.
Monika Linkytė is a Lithuanian singer and songwriter. She represented Lithuania in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 along with Vaidas Baumila with the song "This Time", placing 18th. She also represented Lithuania at the New Wave 2014 competition, receiving a prize from Alla Pugacheva and was a finalist in the second season of Lietuvos Balsas. She represented Lithuania again in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song "Stay", placing 11th.
Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki is a Polish economist, historian and politician who served as the prime minister of Poland between 2017 and 2023. A member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, he previously served in the cabinet of prime minister Beata Szydło as deputy prime minister from 2015 to 2017, Minister of Development from 2015 to 2018 and Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2018. Prior to his political appointment, Morawiecki had an extensive business career. He is considered to have been a de jure leader of Poland, with the de facto leader being Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the party Morawiecki is a member of.
There were two governments of the 32nd Dáil, which was elected at the general election held on 26 February 2016. The 30th government of Ireland was led by Enda Kenny as Taoiseach and the 31st government of Ireland was led by Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach. They were minority governments with Fine Gael and Independent TDs at cabinet, reliant on the support of other Independent TDs, and a confidence and supply arrangement with Fianna Fáil. It was the first time Fine Gael had returned to government after a general election, and the succession of Varadkar as Taoiseach in 2017 was the first time a Fine Gael leader had succeeded a party colleague as Taoiseach within a Dáil term.
The 2021 FIFA Futsal World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was held in Lithuania. It marked the first FIFA tournament ever hosted by Lithuania and the third Futsal World Cup hosted in Europe; the others being 1989 in the Netherlands and 1996 in Spain.
Brahim Abdelkader Díaz, better known as Brahim Díaz or just Brahim, is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for La Liga club Real Madrid. Born in Spain, he plays for the Morocco national team.
LaMelo LaFrance Ball is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected by the Hornets with the third overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Ball was voted the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2021 and named an NBA All-Star the following season in 2022.
Gitanas Nausėda is a Lithuanian politician, economist, and banker who is serving as the ninth and incumbent president of Lithuania since 2019. Born in Klaipėda, Nausėda graduated from Vilnius University with an economics degree in 1987. He was director of monetary policy at the Bank of Lithuania from 1996 to 2000 and chief economist to the chairman of SEB bankas from 2008 to 2018.