Jovita Neliupšienė, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister and future EU Ambassador to the US, has been named one of the most powerful people to shape politics and policy in Europe next year.
On Tuesday, Politico published a list of the most influential people in Europe, based on the experience of the publication’s editors and other sources.
The list is divided into three categories: the “doers”, those with executive power, the “dreamers”, those who represent an idea that stimulates debate, and the “disrupters”, those who, according to the publication, are best placed to change the status quo in unexpected ways.
Neliupšienė is mentioned in the list of the “disrupters”.
“The incoming EU ambassador to the US will face the challenge of strengthening the transatlantic alliance just as her host country heads to the polls to elect a new president – or perhaps an old one,” Politico writes.
“It won’t be the first time the 43-year-old career diplomat has faced the challenge of attempting to convince skeptics of the need to take the Russia threat seriously. Having served as Lithuania’s EU ambassador and deputy minister for foreign affairs, Neliupšienė sounded the alarm about Vladimir Putin’s Russia well before he launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,” it adds.
In April, it was announced that Neliupšienė would take up a key position in the EU’s diplomatic service, as she was selected to head the EU mission in the US.
The diplomat, who is currently deputy foreign minister, has previously served as deputy economy minister, adviser to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, and Lithuanian ambassador to the EU.
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