Audronius Ažubalis

Audronius Ažubalis
Member of the Seimas
Incumbent
Assumed office
14 November 2016
ConstituencyMulti-member
In office
17 November 2008 – 13 November 2016
Preceded byVilija Blinkevičiūtė
Succeeded byVirginijus Sinkevičius
ConstituencyŠeškinė
In office
23 June 2004 – 16 November 2008
Preceded byVytautas Landsbergis
ConstituencyMulti-member
In office
11 November 1996 – 18 October 2000
Preceded byAlgirdas Kunčinas
Succeeded byRaimondas Šukys
ConstituencyFabijoniškės
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania
In office
11 February 2010 – 13 December 2012
PresidentDalia Grybauskaitė
Prime MinisterAndrius Kubilius
Preceded byVygaudas Ušackas
Succeeded byLinas Antanas Linkevičius
Personal details
Born (1958-01-17) 17 January 1958 (age 66)
Vilnius, Lithuania
Political partyHomeland Union

Audronius Ažubalis (born 17 January 1958 in Vilnius, Lithuania) is a Lithuanian journalist and politician, serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania from 2010 to 2012. He was a member of the Seimas 1996–2000, and was elected again in 2004. He has chaired the foreign affairs committee of the Seimas. Ažubalis represents the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, Lithuania's conservative party and part of the European People's Party.

Biography

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In 1976 he graduated from Antanas Vienuolis Secondary School in Vilnius and enrolled into the Vilnius University. He received a tertiary education degree in history in 1989. Later he continued his studies at the World Press Institute at Macalester College, United States.

In January 2010, Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius presented Ažubalis as a candidate for the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs to President Dalia Grybauskaitė.

Views on Stalinism

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Together with five other European foreign ministers, Ažubalis has called for the criminalization of "the approval, denial or belittling of communist crimes,"[1] arguing that "everybody knows about the crimes of Nazism, but only part of Europe is aware of the crimes of communism."[2] Ažubalis has argued that "it is not possible to find differences between Hitler and Stalin except in their moustaches,"[3] echoing the view advanced by Stéphane Courtois in The Black Book of Communism.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Lithuania seeks to keep alive the memory of totalitarian regimes". Alfa. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  2. ^ "EU newcomers demand ban on communist crime denial". EUbusiness. 14 December 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-05-19. Retrieved 2011-05-10.
  3. ^ "A. Ažubalis: apgailėtina pasirašyti deklaraciją, atmetančią nacių ir sovietų nusikaltimų sulyginimą". lzinios.lt. 20 January 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016.
  4. ^ Courtois, Stéphane, ed. (1999). The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression. Harvard University Press. p. 9. ISBN 0-674-07608-7.
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