Mantas Adomėnas
Member of the Seimas
In office
16 November 2012 – 13 November 2020
ConstituencyMulti–member
In office
17 November 2008 – 16 November 2012
Preceded byPetras Auštrevičius
Succeeded byArvydas Anušauskas
ConstituencySenamiestis
Vice Chairman of the Homeland Union
Assumed office
3 March 2017
Personal details
Born (1972-10-01) 1 October 1972
Vilnius, Lithuania
Political partyHomeland Union - Lithuanian Christian Democrats
SpouseViktorija Adomėnienė
ChildrenSofija-Elžbieta Adomėnaitė
Alma materGonville and Caius College, Cambridge
ProfessionClassicist
Military service
Allegiance Lithuania
Branch/service National Defence Volunteer Forces
Years of servicesince 2015
Rank Private

Mantas Adomėnas (born 1 October 1972) is a Lithuanian classicist and politician. He was first elected to the Seimas in 2008[1] and served until 2020. He earned a Ph.D. degree in classics from the University of Cambridge.[1] His best known work is probably the article The Fluctuating Fortunes of Heraclitus in Plato.[2]

Adomėnas was designated as the Vice Chairman of the Homeland Union in 2017. He ran for a Seimas seat as an independent in 2020 and lost but was selected as deputy minister of foreign affairs in December 2020 by Gabrielius Landsbergis.[3]

Influence peddling, other allegations

While Vice Chairman of Homeland Union Adomėnas was stripped of party membership in 2018[4] after being found guilty by party governance organs of influence peddling for MG Baltic, a business conglomerate with perceived Russian connections, with the aim of facilitating “capture of the party” by the business group.

It has also been alleged, and admitted by Adomėnas, that his wife had organized crime connections in her youth in Kaunas while running an antiques business there, specifically to Henrikas Daktaras and his circle.[5]

Misogyny accusations

During a parliamentary sitting in 2010 Adomėnas publicly called a fellow MP Birutė Vėsaitė “vištų višta” (literally, a hen's hen), inviting accusations of misogyny. He apologized 2 days later.[6]

Support for Taiwan, Hong Kong independence

Adomėnas is a supporter of Taiwan and Hong Kong independence movements.[7][8] He organized a rally with slightly over 100 participants on 23 August 2019, during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, in solidarity with a protest in Hong Kong named the "Baltic Way". During the rally, Adomėnas decried a group of about a dozen counter-protesters as having been "hired".[9] Since March 2021 Adomėnas has been member of Lithuania-Taiwan Forum, an NGO supporting Taiwan independence.[10] Gintaras Steponavičius, accused in the Liberal Party bribery case on behalf of MG Baltic, is also part of the initiative.

Adomėnas led Lithuania's decision to open Taiwan's de facto embassy in Lithuania in 2021 which resulted in unprecedented breakdown of China-Lithuania relations. Taiwan is recognized by a small handful of countries..

References

  1. 1 2 Mefford, Brian (21 October 2015). "Adomenas & Nojay to Serve as COD Election Co-Chairs". Committee for Open Democracy (www.committeeforopendemocracy.org/). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  2. ↑ Laks, Andre; Louguet, Claire (2002). Qu’est-ce que la philosophie pre´socratique?. Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "Ryškėja Gabrieliaus Landsbergio komanda – viceministru pakviestas dirbti Mantas Adomėnas". delfi.lt. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  4. ↑ "Iš TS-LKD pašalintas Mantas Adomėnas trauksis iš frakcijos, bet ne iš Seimo". 15min.lt. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  5. ↑ "Seimo nario šeimoje – gaujos šešėlis". lrytas.lt. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "M.Adomėnas po 2 dienų atsiprašė B.Vėsaitės, kad pavadino ją višta". Delfi.lt. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Seime užregistruotas Taivaną palaikančios rezoliucijos projektas". bns.lt. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "Grupė parlamentarų siūlo Lietuvoje suteikti prieglobstį Honkongo žmonėms". lrt.lt. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Lum, Alvin (23 August 2019). "'They want freedom the same way we wanted it': Cheers and support in Lithuania as Hong Kong embraces the 'Baltic Way'". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 1 February 2021 – via Yahoo News.
  10. ↑ "Lithuania politicians, professors form pro-Taiwan group". Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 30 March 2021.


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