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Inga Ruginienė
Lithuanian politician (born 1981) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Inga Ruginienė (born 24 May 1981) is a Lithuanian trade unionist and politician of the Social Democratic Party. She served as chairwoman of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation from 2018 to 2024, and as vice president of the European Trade Union Confederation from 2023 to 2024.[1][2] In the 2024 parliamentary election, she was elected member of the Seimas.[3] She has been serving as Minister of Social Security and Labour of Lithuania since 12 December 2024. In August 2025, Ruginienė was nominated by the Social Democrats as their candidate for Prime Minister of Lithuania following the resignation of Gintautas Paluckas.[4]
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Biography
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Inga Ruginienė was born in Trakai on 24 May 1981.[5][2] She grew up in Vilnius, but spent summers during her childhood in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk.[6]
In 2005, Ruginienė earned a master's degree in public health from Vilnius University.[5][2] She worked as a public health specialist at the State Environmental Health Center from 2005 to 2008.[5][2] Ruginienė worked as Vilnius region director for the company "S Stata" from 2008 to 2010.[5][2]
Ruginienė served as vice chair of the Lithuanian Federation of Forest and Wood Workers' Trade Unions from 2012 to 2014, and as chair from 2014 to 2018.[5][2] In 2015, Ruginienė earned a bachelor's degree in forest management from the Kaunas Forestry and Environmental Engineering College.
Ruginienė served as chair of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation from 2018 to 2024.[5][2] In 2022, she earned a master's in labor law from Mykolas Romeris University.[5][2] She served as vice president of the European Trade Union Confederation from 2023 to 2024.[5][2]
Ruginienė has been a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party since 2024, when she ran in the 2024 Lithuanian parliamentary election.[5][2] Despite finishing in sixth place in the Naujininkai–Rasos single-seat constituency,[7] she secured a seat in the multi-mandate district of the Seimas due to her position in the party list.[8]
Following the Social Democrats' victory in the parliamentary election, Ruginienė was nominated as the Minister of Social Security and Labour. She served in the Paluckas Cabinet from 12 December 2024 until its dissolution on 4 August 2025.
Within the Seimas, Ruginienė serves on the parliamentary committee on human rights.[9] She has also served as vice chair of the parliamentary group on forest conservation and as a member of the "against mass immigration", "friends of Neringa", and women's parliamentary groups.[2]
On 6 August 2025, the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party nominated Ruginienė for Prime Minister.[10]
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Political positions
Defense
Ruginienė has stated that she considers national security a priority. She has indicated that she would maintain the Paluckas Government's plan to increase defense spending to 5–6% of GDP.[11]
Foreign policy
Ruginienė has expressed strong support for Ukraine in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[6]
Immigration
Ruginienė is a member of the parliamentary group "against mass immigration".[2]
In January 2025, Ruginienė was interviewed about immigration on the TV station LRT televizija. She argued that migration should be more tightly controlled for security reasons, that Lithuania should focus on attracting skilled workers who will stay and contribute to the tax base, and that integration should be a priority.[12]
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Personal life
Inga Ruginienė is married to Vismantas Ruginis, a businessman who manages multiple publishing companies.[13][14] Her mother, Diana Raitelaitienė, serves as the chair of the Lithuanian Federation of Forest and Wood Workers' Trade Unions.[14] Some of Ruginienė's distant relatives live in Moscow, but she has stated that she does not have much contact with them.[6]
Ruginienė served as a first-aid instructor and volunteer at the Lithuanian Red Cross Society from 2004 to 2016, and served on its board from 2016 to 2019.[5][2] From 2021 to 2023 she served as a member of the council of the Kaunas Forestry and Environmental Engineering College.[5][2]
She speaks fluent Lithuanian, English and Russian.[5][2] Some commentators have noted that Ruginienė speaks Lithuanian with a slight Russian accent. Ruginienė attributes this to having grown up in a bilingual neighborhood of Vilnius and having spent a lot of time in her childhood in the majority Russian-speaking part of Ukraine.[6]
Ruginienė enjoys reading detective novels and has cited The Little Prince as one of her favorite books.[13] Her hobbies include travel and painting.[5][2]
References
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