Skip links
Baltic Ambassadors

Center for Politics to Host Baltic Ambassadors at Virtual Event

Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian representatives to U.S. will react to Russian invasion of Ukraine

(CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA) – On Thursday, April 28, the University of Virginia Center for Politics will host a public event with the ambassadors of the Baltic republics: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Ambassadors to the United States who will participate in this event are: Her Excellency Audra Plepytė, Ambassador of Lithuania; His Excellency Kristjan Prikk, Ambassador of Estonia; and His Excellency Māris Selga, Ambassador of Latvia. Prof. Philip Zelikow, White Burkett Miller Professor of History at the University of Virginia, will serve as moderator. Center for Politics Director of Global Initiatives Daman Irby will open the event.

The ambassadors will participate in a dialogue focusing on their respective nations’ relationships with the United States and the present and future impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as it relates to Baltic affairs. All three nations used to be part of the Soviet Union and are now members of NATO. UVA students will also ask a series of questions.   

This virtual event will be held from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public at https://livestream.com/tavco/balticambassadorconversation. Members of the media are welcome.

Ambassador Plepytė became Lithuania’s Ambassador to the U.S. in May 2021 and previously as the nation’s Ambassador to Spain, Director of the European Union Department in the Foreign Ministry, and Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the United Nations. Ambassador Prikk, who has served in his current role since May 2021, previously served as Estonia’s Defense Counselor in the Embassy in Washington and was the country’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defense. Ambassador Selga has served as Latvia’s Ambassador to the U.S. since September 2019 and was previously the Ambassador to Egypt and China, among other diplomatic roles.

This Ambassador Series event is coordinated by the UVA Center for Politics’ Global Perspectives on Democracy (GPD) program in partnership with UVA Office of Global Affairs, UVA European Studies Program, and the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies.