Dalius Čekuolis (born 29 March 1959) is a Lithuanian career diplomat who was Lithuania's Permanent Representative to the UN from 2006 to 2012, and since 2019 is Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. Previously, he served as the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a primary organ of the United Nations (2007), Chair of the Third Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects (2008), Co-Chairman of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly (2010-2011), as well as the Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs and an ambassador of Lithuania to several European countries.

Ambassador
Dalius Čekuolis
Lithuanian Permanent Representative to the United Nations
In office
2 March 2006 – 2012
Personal details
Born (1959-03-29) 29 March 1959 (age 65)
Vilnius
NationalityLithuanian
SpouseJūratė Čekuolienė
ChildrenOne daughter
Alma materMoscow State Institute of International Relations

Education edit

Dailus Čekuolis graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1982.[1]

Diplomatic career edit

In 1990, Čekuolis became spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania as Head of the Press and Information Department.[1]

In 1992, he became Lithuania's ambassador to Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, a position he held until 1994. From 1994 until 1998 he was ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and representative to the Western European Union and NATO's North Atlantic Cooperation Council.[1]

From 1998 to 1999, Čekuolis was Head of the Committee of Senior Officials of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), and from 1999 until 2004, he was Lithuania's ambassador to Portugal. In 2004, he was appointed to the position of Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, where he was responsible for security policy.[1]

UN career edit

Čekuolis became Lithuania's Permanent Representative to the United Nations on 2 March 2006. On 23 March 2006, he was elected as a vice-president of ECOSOC, to fulfill the term of ambassador Gediminas Šerkšnys.[2] On 17 January 2007, he was elected to the one-year Presidency of ECOSOC,[1] succeeding Tunisian Ali Hachani. In 2008, Čekuolis successfully[3] chaired the Third Biennial Meeting of States to Consider the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in SALW in All its Aspects in 2008,[4] co-chaired the Working Group on the Revitalization of the General Assembly in 2010-2011.[5]

United Nations General Assembly presidential election edit

In 2004, Lithuania informed the UN member states of its decision to apply for the post of the President of the Sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly (starting in September 2012) and notified about the decision to submit the candidature of Ambassador Dalius Čekuolis in June 2011 for the 2012 election.[6] On 8 June 2012 he lost the secret ballot in the UN General Assembly to Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić, receiving the votes of 85 countries, while Jeremić received 99.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e "His Excellency Dailus Čekuolis" (PDF). UN.org. United Nations. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  2. ^ "UN Human Rights Commission Abolished by ECOSOC Council". UN.org. United Nations and Peoples Organization. 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
  3. ^ Abramson, Jeff (September 2008). "Small Arms Conference Nets Agreement". Arms Control Today. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  4. ^ Čekuolis, Dalius (October 2008). "Tackling the Illicit Small Arms Trade: The Chairman Speaks". Arms Control Today. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Meeting with the Ad Hoc Working Group on Revitalization". UN Press Release. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Lithuanian candidate to the President of the UN General Assembly 2012". Website of the Permanent Mission of Lithuania to UN. Retrieved 21 February 2012.

External links edit