WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė presented her credentials to U.S. President Joe Biden in a White House ceremony today.

In a letter to President Biden accompanying her credentials, Ambassador Neliupšienė emphasized the importance of the EU’s partnership with the U.S. as “a defining factor of the global order since WWII.” She noted that transatlantic relations “have embodied the ideals of peace, freedom, democracy, stability, prosperity, human rights, and development, not only for those living on our shores but also for the rest of the world.”

The EU and U.S. share an obligation to stand together for these values in tackling challenges to global peace and security, she wrote, most important among them Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. “I come to my new role in the knowledge that the European Union is resolved to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the Ambassador said.     

 

The European Union has already delivered more than half of global aid for Ukraine, in addition to hosting more than four million refugees. While the transatlantic alliance has so far helped Ukraine thwart Russia’s invasion, “now we need to ensure Ukraine’s victory,” the Ambassador added.

Ambassador Neliupšienė also stressed the importance of the EU-U.S. economic partnership, which accounts for 42% of global GDP and $1.6 trillion annually in the value of goods and services crossing the Atlantic. Approximately 16 million people in the U.S. and EU benefit from jobs in the transatlantic economy.

Ambassador Neliupšienė acts as the diplomatic liaison between the European Union and the United States and as the official representative of EU interests, policies and priorities.

The Ambassador is a Lithuanian diplomat, who most recently served as a Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, where she was responsible for the coordination of European Affairs, European bilateral and regional issues, as well as the coordination of sanctions. From 2020 to 2022, she was also Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation of Lithuania. Prior to that, she served as Lithuanian Ambassador to the EU and Chief Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Lithuania.

Her new role is a return to the U.S. for the Ambassador, who studied at Creighton University, in Omaha, Nebraska, in 2008. In addition to her studies in the U.S., Ambassador Neliupšienė holds a PhD in Social Science from Vilnius University and a Bachelor of Law from M. Riomeris Law University.

For more information on Ambassador Neliupšienė, please see: euintheus.org and follow her @EUAmbUS.

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