Laurynas Kasčiūnas

Laurynas Kasčiūnas was born on 1982-01-08 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

He is married (spouse’s name is not widely public); their property is declared jointly. The couple’s primary assets are real estate – the apartments they own constituted the majority of their ~€343k family asset total in 2023.

In 2012, he defended his doctoral dissertation titled “ES vidinės integracijos poveikis išorinei europeizacijai: Ukrainos ir Rusijos atvejų analizė” (on EU integration’s impact on external Europeanization).

He pursued doctoral studies at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science from 2006 to 2012 and earned a Doctor of Social Sciences (PhD).

In 2006, he obtained a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science.

In 2004, he graduated from Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

He completed his secondary education at Vilnius “Ąžuolyno” Secondary School, graduating in 2000.

In 2016, he co-authored a monograph titled “Rusijos raidos scenarijai: implikacijos Lietuvos ir regiono saugumui” (Russia’s Development Scenarios: Implications for Lithuania’s and the Region’s Security).

He served as the Director of the Eastern Europe Studies Centre (Rytų Europos studijų centras) from 2012 to 2016.

From 2009 to 2012, he worked as an advisor on foreign policy issues to the Speaker of the Seimas, Irena Degutienė.

From 2009 to 2012, Kasčiūnas served as the Speaker of the Seimas’ advisor on foreign policy, a role that typically paid roughly €1,000–1,500 per month (estimated).

He was a lecturer at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science from 2007 to 2016.

He worked as a lecturer at Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science from 2007 to 2016; during that period, academic salaries in Lithuania were relatively low (on the order of €800–1,000 per month, estimated).

In September 2025, he was unanimously elected as the senior leader (frakcijos seniūnas) of the TS-LKD parliamentary group in the Seimas, reflecting his role as the party’s chairman.

On 2025-02-09, he was elected Chairman of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD), securing roughly 78% of the votes in the party leadership election.

He served as Lithuania’s Minister of National Defence from 25 March 2024 until December 2024 (appointment by President Gitanas Nausėda after the previous minister’s resignation).

He later served as Chairman of the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee, leading the NSGK during 2020–2024.

He became Deputy Chairman of the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee in July 2019 and served in that role until November 2020.

He was also a member of the Seimas Freedom Fights and State Historical Memory Commission from 2017 until 2020.

During the 2016–2020 term, he served as a member of the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee (NSGK).

In the 2024 Seimas election runoff in Lazdynai, he won 53.24% of votes, defeating ex-PM Saulius Skvernelis (who received 44.30%).

After two unsuccessful bids in Dzūkija, Kasčiūnas switched to Vilnius’ Lazdynai constituency in 2024 and won the single-member race there – obtaining 53.24% of the vote in the runoff (defeating ex-PM Saulius Skvernelis, who got 44.30%).

After two unsuccessful bids in Dzūkija, Kasčiūnas switched to Vilnius’ Lazdynai constituency in 2024 and won the single-member race there – obtaining 53.24% of the vote in the runoff (defeating ex-PM Saulius Skvernelis, who got 44.30%).

In the October 2024 Seimas elections (multi-member voting), Kasčiūnas obtained 9,410 preferential votes on the TS-LKD’s national party list – the highest number of preferences among the party’s candidates (surpassing TS-LKD chairman Gabrielius Landsbergis, who received 7,227).

In 2024, he was elected to the Seimas representing Vilnius’s Lazdynai single-member constituency (No. 9).

In 2020, he again contested the Dzūkija constituency and reached the second round against Juozas Baublys (Liberal Movement), but did not win the seat – instead securing re-election via the TS-LKD party list.

In 2020, he again contested the Dzūkija constituency and reached the second round against Juozas Baublys (Liberal Movement), but did not win the seat – instead securing re-election via the TS-LKD party list.

He was re-elected in the 2020 parliamentary elections as a Member of the Seimas (again via the TS-LKD party list).

For the 2020 parliamentary elections, TS-LKD party members re-ranked the party’s candidate list, placing Kasčiūnas in the 3rd position (immediately after the two main party leaders).

In the 2016 parliamentary elections, Kasčiūnas ran in the Dzūkijos single-member constituency. He advanced to the runoff but was defeated by Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) candidate Petras Valiūnas (Kasčiūnas received about 46% of votes to Valiūnas’ ~54%).

In the 2016 parliamentary elections, Kasčiūnas ran in the Dzūkijos single-member constituency. He advanced to the runoff but was defeated by Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union (LVŽS) candidate Petras Valiūnas (Kasčiūnas received about 46% of votes to Valiūnas’ ~54%).

He became a Member of the Seimas in November 2016, having been elected via the Homeland Union (TS-LKD) party list.

According to his 2023 asset declaration, Kasčiūnas and his family held about €343,688 in total assets (the bulk of it in real estate, notably the apartments owned by him and his wife) and €87,491 in liabilities.

Kasčiūnas’ declared wealth changed very little between 2022 and 2023 – for example, his family’s cash increased by €13,990 (to €58,210), land value dropped by €4,381 (to €5,019), and liabilities decreased by €1,937 (to €87,491).

Beginning in 2020, Lithuanian officials (including Kasčiūnas) have been required to submit their private interests declarations via VTEK’s electronic system (PINREG). Kasčiūnas filed a new declaration through PINREG by the March 1, 2020 deadline, but declarations from before the system’s launch are not readily accessible on the public portal.

As a Member of the Seimas since 2016, Kasčiūnas earns a base salary of around €3,356 gross per month (2019 figure), with higher pay (~€3,754 gross) when serving as a committee chairman or similar leadership role.

During his time in the National Democratic Party, he served as a deputy to the party’s leader, Mindaugas Murza.

In 2012, he and colleagues initiated the Lithuanian–Hungarian Forum to strengthen ties with Hungary; after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Kasčiūnas and the Forum’s other initiators publicly distanced themselves from Viktor Orbán by signing an open letter.

Since 2011, he has been a member of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) party.

He was a member of the Lithuanian National Democratic Party from 2000 to 2002.

In 1999, at age 17, he became the chairman of the Young National Democrats (youth wing of the Lithuanian National Democratic Party), which opposed Lithuania’s EU accession.

He has been involved with the Ronald Reagan Freedom Center (Ronaldo Reigano laisvės centras), a civic association.

In 2024, during his Seimas election campaign, he did not declare his previous membership in the National Democratic Party on his VRK form, later saying he forgot to mention it.

In 2022, a coalition of human rights organizations petitioned the Seimas Commission for Ethics and Procedures to examine Kasčiūnas’ remarks about migrants from the Middle East and Africa (he said they come from cultures where the value of children is by no means high and that they manipulate them), arguing his statements were dehumanizing.

He advocates a strict immigration policy and has consistently voted against legislation to legalize same-sex partnerships.

He has been one of the most prominent anti-immigration hawks in Lithuanian politics; in 2021–2022 he was a vocal champion of the policy of pushing back irregular migrants at the Belarus border.

In 2018, he invited representatives of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to visit Lithuania for a meeting (ostensibly for academic purposes), but after condemnation from the TS-LKD leadership the visit was canceled.

In 2016, he signed a petition calling to ban an LGBTQ+ pride event in Lithuania.