A Lithuanian legal and forensic psychologist, broadcaster, and national security strategist who serves as a Member of the Seimas, an office she has held since 2016.
Her executive and parliamentary tenure includes service as Minister of Defence of Lithuania and long-standing membership on the Committee on National Security and Defence. During her ministerial mandate on NATO's eastern flank, her defense policy initiatives included securing a national defense budget reaching 5.38% of GDP, acquiring €6.375 billion through the European Union's Security Action for Europe (SAFE) instrument, streamlining air defense engagement procedures, initiating the regional withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention, and co-authoring the Ministry of Defence's inaugural Indo-Pacific Strategy.
In international security and parliamentary diplomacy, she co-founded and co-chairs the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and sponsored Lithuania's resolution regarding the Uyghur genocide, leading to sanctions imposed on her by the People's Republic of China in 2021. She is a frequent contributor to major security forums, including the Munich Security Conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue, and the Warsaw Security Forum, as well as Washington policy institutes.
Prior to her political career, she worked for seven years in media as a broadcast host and columnist. Academically trained as a criminal psychologist, she is also completing formal qualification in cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.