About Vilija Blinkevičiūtė
Vilija Blinkevičiūtė (born 3 March 1960) is a Lithuanian lawyer and politician, Member of the European Parliament and former long-term Minister for Social Security and Labour. Blinkevičiūtė is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania since 2006. In 2024, Blinkevičiūtė led the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania in the parliamentary elections, where the party emerged as the largest faction in the Seimas. However, in an unexpected announcement in October 2024, she declared that she would not pursue the role of Prime Minister of Lithuania, opting instead to continue serving as a Member of the European Parliament. In 2000 Blinkevičiūtė was appointed as Minister for Social Security and Labour, first in the government of Prime Minister Rolandas Paksas. In 2021 she won the 2021 Social Democratic Party of Lithuania leadership election and became the chairwoman of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party. Since 1983, Blinkevičiūtė has dedicated all her professional life to working in the Ministry of Social Security and Labour until she turned to politics and became a Vice Minister of Social Security and Labour in 1996. Following the 2014 elections, Blinkevičiūtė became a vice-chair of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM); she was elected the chair of the committee in January 2017.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.