Remigijus Motuzas

He was born on 17 November 1956 in Skuodas, Lithuanian SSR (now Lithuania).

Remigijus Motuzas is a Lithuanian politician and diplomat.

Motuzas earned a Doctor of Social Sciences (Ph.D.) from Vilnius University in 1993.

In 1978 he graduated from the Vilnius Pedagogical Institute with a qualification as a Lithuanian language and literature teacher.

From 2020 to 2021 he was the head of Lithuania’s consulate in Sejny, Poland (Consul General).

In 2020 he served as Ambassador-at-Large at the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Russian Federation from 2015 until 2020.

He was concurrently accredited as Lithuania’s Ambassador to the Republic of Uzbekistan during his tenure as Ambassador to Russia (2015–2020).

He served as the First Deputy Chancellor of the Government Chancellery of Lithuania from 2013 to 2015.

From 2011 to 2013, he was a Department Director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for Lithuania’s EU Council Presidency preparations.

Motuzas was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania to the Kingdom of Sweden from 2006 to 2011.

In 2003–2004, he served as State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

Motuzas was Director of the Administrative Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from 2002 to 2003.

He served as Minister-Counsellor at Lithuania's Permanent Mission to the Council of Europe from 2001 to 2002.

From 1997 to 2001, he was the Director General of the Department of National Minorities and Emigration under the Government of Lithuania.

He served as Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science of Lithuania from 1994 to 1997.

In 1993–1994 he worked in the Office of the President of Lithuania as a referent (advisor) for education and science issues.

Circa 1988–1991, Motuzas served as a consultant on education and science for the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee and later for the LDDP Secretariat.

He headed the Schools Board at the Lithuanian SSR Ministry of Education from 1985 to 1988.

From 1978 to 1985, he worked as a Lithuanian language and literature teacher in Vilnius secondary schools.

He served as the leader (seniūnas) of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction in the Seimas during 2024–2025.

Remigijus Motuzas has been a Member of the Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania) since November 14, 2024.

On November 14, 2024, Motuzas was elected as the seniūnas (leader) of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction in the Seimas.

He led the Social Democratic parliamentary faction in the Seimas from November 2024 until September 10, 2025, when Orinta Leiputė took over the position.

He was a member of the Vilnius City Municipal Council from 2023 until 2024.

In 2017–2018, he worked as the International Secretary of the LSDP (Social Democratic Party) Secretariat.

He served as the Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania from 2004 to 2006.

He has been a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) since 2004.

Before joining LSDP, he was a member of the Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party (LDDP) from 1990 to 1997.

He was briefly a member of the Lithuanian Communist Party in 1989–1990, during its break from the Soviet Communist Party.

During the Soviet era, Motuzas was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1979 to 1989.

He also serves on the Seimas Commission for the Commemoration of Lithuanian Traditions and Heritage (Lituanistikos tradicijų ir paveldo įprasminimo komisija) as a member, joining that commission in March 2025.

He serves as the Chair of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs (Užsienio reikalų komitetas) in the 2024–2028 parliamentary term.

In addition to chairing the Foreign Affairs Committee, since November 2024 Motuzas has also been a member of the Seimas Committee on European Affairs.

While serving as the Social Democrat faction leader, Motuzas was a member of the Seimas Council of Elders (Seniūnų sueiga) from November 2024 until his tenure as faction leader ended in September 2025.

In the 2024 Seimas elections, Motuzas ran in the single-member Fabijoniškės constituency (No. 5 in Vilnius) and was also listed on LSDP’s national party list. He placed second in the first round with 12.22% of the vote (against conservative Aistė Gedvilienė’s 25.93%), but won the runoff with 49.85% vs 47.99%, thus securing the seat via the constituency. (His position on the party list ultimately did not matter, as he was elected in the district.)

In the 2024 Seimas elections, Motuzas ran in the single-member Fabijoniškės constituency (No. 5 in Vilnius) and was also listed on LSDP’s national party list. He placed second in the first round with 12.22% of the vote (against conservative Aistė Gedvilienė’s 25.93%), but won the runoff with 49.85% vs 47.99%, thus securing the seat via the constituency. (His position on the party list ultimately did not matter, as he was elected in the district.)

In the 2024 parliamentary elections, he was elected to the Seimas in the single-member Fabijoniškės constituency (No. 5 in Vilnius) as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party.

In the 2023 municipal elections, Motuzas was elected to the Vilnius City Council on the LSDP list. The Social Democrats won 4 of the 51 council seats in Vilnius (about 8% of the vote), and Motuzas was among those 4 councilors. He served on the City Council from April 2023 until late 2024, when he left the post after being elected to the Seimas.

In the 2023 municipal elections, Motuzas was elected to the Vilnius City Council on the LSDP list. The Social Democrats won 4 of the 51 council seats in Vilnius (about 8% of the vote), and Motuzas was among those 4 councilors. He served on the City Council from April 2023 until late 2024, when he left the post after being elected to the Seimas.

He was also elected to the Vilnius City Council in the 2023 municipal elections.

Since becoming a Seimas member in late 2024, Remigijus Motuzas receives the standard MP salary – roughly around €3,300 gross per month (base pay, excluding additional stipends for any posts or expenses).

No irregular surges in Motuzas’s wealth have been observed. His net worth has grown gradually in line with earned income and typical savings. Media analyses of politicians’ declarations have not flagged Motuzas for any unexplained assets – his financial profile is consistent with a long-term state official living on a government salary.

Motuzas is not among the wealthiest parliamentarians – media listings of top asset-holders in the Seimas do not include him. His asset declarations show only typical holdings of a career public servant (a private residence, some savings, a car), with no large business interests or unusual spikes in wealth.

Motuzas has dutifully filed annual asset and income declarations, and his family’s finances have remained stable over the past decade. His declared assets (including those of his wife) are in the typical range for a career public servant – primarily a personal residence, savings, and a car – and his income sources are almost entirely his public-sector salaries and pension. He has not reported significant private business income, large debts, or other unusual wealth changes in these declarations.

During his public service career, Motuzas’s remuneration has been consistent with standard government salaries for his roles. For example, as a Minister (2004–2006) he earned on the order of a few thousand LTL per month (approximately €1,000–€1,500), while as an Ambassador his base pay was set by law at coefficient 13.0 of the civil service base (about €2,300–€2,600 monthly before expatriate allowances).

In April 2025 media reports, Motuzas (as LSDP faction leader) denied that the hiring of Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius’s wife to a Seimas post was influenced by family connections.

The same report noted that Motuzas’s daughter, Raminta Motuzaitė, had been working as an adviser in the Seimas Public Relations Department since before his tenure, and officials stated he had no influence on her hiring.

In May 2019, while Motuzas was ambassador in Moscow, Lithuanian prosecutors investigated a possibly non-transparent issuance of a visa to a Russian businessman. They found no criminal wrongdoing by Motuzas – his status in the case was downgraded from “special witness” to an ordinary witness – noting only a potential procedural lapse and referring the matter to the Foreign Ministry for administrative review.

In 2006, Motuzas was honored with the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium.

In 2003, Remigijus Motuzas was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania.

He received Poland’s Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit in 1999.

Motuzas’s wife is not a public figure, and their assets are jointly declared in his filings. His adult daughter, Raminta Motuzaitė, has worked as an advisor in the Seimas Public Relations unit; the Seimas Chancellery noted that her hiring predated Motuzas’s term and that he had no influence on it.

Motuzas is active in numerous inter-parliamentary friendship groups. For example, he is listed as a member of the groups for relations with Israel, Poland, Moldova, the Nordic countries (including Sweden), Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and the Western Balkan states in the 2024–2028 Seimas.

Remigijus Motuzas is married and enjoys traveling, gardening, and attending cultural and community events in his free time.

He speaks English and Russian fluently (described as an advanced user of both languages).