Linas Balsys
Lietuvos socialdemokratų partijos frakcija
Oficialus Seimo profilis ↗Linas Balsys – Lietuvos politikas, žurnalistas ir buvęs Lietuvos žaliųjų partijos pirmininkas, kuris šiuo metu yra Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo narys Lietuvos socialdemokratų partijos frakcijoje. Jo karjera apima žurnalistiką, vadovavimą Briuselio korespondentų biurui, patarėjo ir atstovo spaudai pareigas Prezidentės D. Grybauskaitės komandoje, dėstymą universitetuose, taip pat aktyvią politinę veiklą Seime nuo 2012 m.
Linas Balsys’s wife, Irmina Medeišytė, worked as the head of events in the Communications Department of the Presidential Chancellery during President Dalia Grybauskaitė’s administration.
His wife Irmina Medeišytė (who worked in the President’s Office Communications Dept.) owned a small number of shares in AB "Grigiškės" (paper company) — only a few symbolic shares, according to Balsys.
Linas Balsys was born on 1961-05-01 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
In 1996 he pursued studies in international relations and public administration at the Stockholm Institute of Foreign Affairs.
In 1994 he completed an internship in international relations and security at the U.S. Department of State.
He studied journalism at Vilnius University and graduated in 1984.
In 1979, he graduated from Vilnius 23rd Secondary School (now Simonas Daukantas Gymnasium).
In 2011–2012 he lectured on journalism and public relations at Vilnius University and Kaunas University of Technology.
From 2009 to 2011 he served as chief advisor, press service head, and spokesperson to President Dalia Grybauskaitė.
In 2002 he became LRT’s permanent correspondent in Brussels and led its Brussels bureau until 2009.
From 1982 to 2002 he worked as a journalist at the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT).
He is again serving as a Member of the Seimas in the 2024–2028 term, having returned to parliament in November 2024.
He served as Deputy Elder (Deputy Chair) of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction in the Seimas from November 2019 to November 2020.
He formally left the Lithuanian Green Party around 2019, roughly a year after resigning as the party’s chairman.
On 2018-04-26, he announced his decision to join the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction in the Seimas.
He served as a Member of the Seimas in the 2016–2020 parliamentary term.
He led the Mixed Group of Seimas Members (independent MPs’ group) as its elder (leader) from November 2016 until November 2017.
He was a Member of the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania during the 2012–2016 term.
Linas Balsys was the chairman of the Lithuanian Green Party until 2016, stepping down after the 2016 parliamentary elections.
He served as a member of the Seimas Environmental Protection Committee in 2014–2016 and continued in this committee during the 2016–2020 term.
He was Deputy Chair of the Seimas European Affairs Committee from 2014 to 2016, and again from late 2016 until 2017.
He was a member of the Seimas Energy Commission throughout 2012–2016 and later served on the Energy and Sustainable Development Commission in 2019–2020.
Despite being listed 140th on the Social Democratic Party’s candidate list in 2024, he was elected to the Seimas via the multi-member constituency – achieving enough preferential (ranking) votes to leap into the winning list seats (he did not win a single-mandate district that year).
Despite being listed 140th on the Social Democratic Party’s candidate list in 2024, he was elected to the Seimas via the multi-member constituency – achieving enough preferential (ranking) votes to leap into the winning list seats (he did not win a single-mandate district that year).
In 2024 he returned to the Seimas as a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party’s list (elected via the multi-member constituency).
In the 2020 Seimas elections, he ran with the Social Democrats (LSDP) and received enough preferential votes to rise from 11th to 10th place on the LSDP list, but the party won only 8 seats in the multi-member constituency, leaving him narrowly out of parliament.
In the 2016 Seimas elections, representing the Lithuanian Green Party in Panerių-Grigiškių constituency (No. 11), he won in the second round with about 56% of the vote, defeating the TS-LKD candidate (Agnė Bilotaitė) to retain his Seimas seat.
He was re-elected to the Seimas in 2016, representing the Lithuanian Green Party in the Panerių single-member constituency (No. 11).
He attempted to run for President of Lithuania in 2014, but the election commission refused to register his candidacy due to insufficient valid supporting signatures.
In the 2012 Seimas election runoff for the Karoliniškės single-member constituency, Linas Balsys won with 58.38% of the vote (10,275 votes) against Danutė Bekintienė’s 36.09% (6,352 votes), securing the parliamentary seat.
In the 2012 Seimas elections, running as an independent in the Karoliniškės single-member constituency (No. 8), he took 14.52% in the first round (2nd place, vs. 18.79% for TS-LKD’s Danutė Bekintienė), then won the runoff, defeating D. Bekintienė and securing the seat.
In the 2012 Seimas elections, running as an independent in the Karoliniškės single-member constituency (No. 8), he took 14.52% in the first round (2nd place, vs. 18.79% for TS-LKD’s Danutė Bekintienė) 【15min.lt】, then won the runoff, defeating D. Bekintienė and securing the seat.
In the 2012 parliamentary elections he ran as an independent and was elected in the Karoliniškės single-member constituency (No. 8).
As a rank-and-file Seimas member (2012–2020), his base salary was about €2,500 per month (around €30k per year before taxes), not including additional stipends for expenses.
In early 2009 he declared purchasing a vehicle (~50–75 thousand Lt) and, about a month after the 2009 presidential election, an apartment worth 400–500 thousand Lt, stating the apartment was bought with his savings.
As a journalist at Lithuanian National Radio and Television (1982–2002), he earned a relatively modest salary (significantly lower than top LRT executives’ ~12.6 k Lt/month in 2008).
He was the president of the non-governmental Green Policy Institute (Žaliosios politikos institutas) in 2011–2012.
On 2017-11-09, he was suspected of being intoxicated in the Seimas after a breathalyzer test indicated 1.82‰ alcohol, though he insisted he had only taken medication.
In early 2014, while running for president, he publicly claimed that President Dalia Grybauskaitė "never left M. Burokevičius’s Communist Party, she just sat and waited to see how it ends."
In October 2016, as an MP, he introduced a legislative amendment aimed at banning the breeding and killing of fur animals in Lithuania.
His public service has been recognized with several honors, including the Order “For Merits to Lithuania” (Knight’s Cross), the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Commander’s Cross), the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry’s medal for Lithuania’s EU and NATO membership, and a Baltic Assembly Medal.