Juozaitis to run for Lithuanian president, focus on language, family, education, justice

“From the bottom of my heart, I wish that this path started today brings a lot of benefit for the homeland. I am telling everyone honestly that I will stand for election and run for Lithuanian president, backed by my supporters,” Juozatis told a press conference Biržai Castle, northern Lithuania.

Speaking about the state, Juozaitis, 62, named four key pillars, including the language, family, education and justice.

“The first pillar is the language as we cannot communicate without it. The second one is the family, the third is national education and the fourth one is justice. All these pillars have been considerably damaged and a single person is in charge of the pillars,” the philosopher said.

Juozaitis has a PhD in philosophy from Vilnius University. He won a bronze medal in swimming during the 1986 Montreal Olympics. He was one of the initiators of the Sąjūdis and was editor-in-chief and publisher of several cultural publications. Juozaitis served as an adviser on education to then Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas in 2001–2003. He served as Lithuania’s cultural attaché in the Russian region of Kaliningrad in 2004–2009 and was a deputy president of Lithuania’s International Olympic Committee in 2012–2017.