In my continuous effort to maintain a certain inter-institutional balance, I had the pleasure to interview the former (and youngest) European Commissioner, and now Member of the European Parliament, Virginijus Sinkevičius. What came out is a long, yet very inspiring, net zero to hero story.
You grew up in Šeškinė, a working-class district of Vilnius, nowadays known for Akropolis, the biggest shopping mall in the Baltics. Was it already there when you were a kid?
No, not yet, but they were building it. They finished it when I started going to the cinema on my own, so I was probably twelve, it must have been 2002. And I remember, just before the opening, we managed to enter it with some friends, and we were wandering inside, nobody kicked us out.
Trespassing a mall under construction as a kid is a remarkable experience.
We grew up in the streets, in the open, not in front of monitors, so we were always looking for interesting things to do. And there were always 10-15 children around you, so adventures were endless. For us Akropolis was nothing new, but I remember the surprise of seeing so many people coming there every day.
I suppose a mall was an interesting place for adolescents?
Yes, the main attraction for us was the big ice skating rink; there was a special promotion from the shops: if you had a receipt of a certain amount you could enter the rink for only 1 Litas (about 0,30€, ed). So we kids would be looking for those receipts all over the mall and then go skating. They had similar promotions for the cinema too.
Lots of happy memories in Šeškinė…
Your memory always keeps the positive ones and tries to push away the negative. I had a free childhood, not very restricted. Of course, for freedom there is a price to pay: it either teaches you responsibility or you fail. So I was probably on the lucky side.
Ahah, it looks like that. Still, I see a scar on your forehead, is it the result of some unlucky street adventure?
No, I just fell badly when I was three years old.
Šeškinė is a district with a strong migration background, which languages were people speaking around you?
Besides Lithuanian, mostly Russian and Polish. It’s not a fancy district, so I learned those languages in the streets. And when I went to the gymnasium my grand teacher (in Lithuania, a teacher responsible for the whole class, ed) suggested I should learn Russian as second language. And I felt a bit offended: “I speak Russian!”, I said. She replied: “You don’t know what Russian is, that street lingo you speak is nowhere close to it. Join my class and I will teach you how to read and write properly”. And so I did and I can still speak it today, even though I can’t probably write it properly anymore.
I had a free childhood, but for freedom there is a price to pay: it either teaches you responsibility or you fail.
What was your mother’s job?
She was, and still is, a nurse. And she raised me and my sister alone. She was putting a lot of pressure on us, especially on school. School results were very important to her. “Higher education, that’s the key in life”, she told us.
She must be proud of your achievements. Does she understand what you are doing for the European Union?
I don’t ask that much, but she is always very happy when I take her to some events.
So you were free to roam the street as long as you were doing your homework?
Absolutely. And she would check in the evening, when we prepared our history or geography homework, what the topic was and if we liked it. And now that I am a father, I read books on how to raise children and they give all this advice. And I’m wondering: how did my mum manage without all those books?
It must have been hard indeed, maybe she learned some trick in her family?
Well, she had six siblings, they all grew up in a small village by the Lithuanian-Belarusian border. There were only seven houses and no shop. But there were cows, pigs, and a vegetable patch with potatoes and carrots. Me and my sisters were helping there in summer.
Were you helping at home?
Yes, on a nurse’s salary you will never do too well, so I have been doing different jobs. “You always have to work and all sort of work is respectable”, my mother told me. With fourteen, I started working in constructions, and that felt so good, because the money I earned seemed huge to me.
That was 2004, the year Lithuania joined the EU. Did this have an impact on you?
Yes, because it made it easier to go to the UK (they were still a member state back then).
When was the first time you went there?
I was in the Riflemen Union (Lietuvos šaulių sąjunga, a paramilitary non-profit organization supported by the Government of Lithuania, which counts about 16,000 members, ed), and I was among the best ones of my year. And the UK would pick fifteen of us for a 10 days exchange.
Did you also work there?
Yes, one year later, as construction worker. During the summer break I went to visit my cousin who was living there already. In Lithuania, 11th grade is the summer when you chill, before the very hard exam of the 12th grade.
How was it to work in the UK?
Incredibly interesting and I saved a lot of money, which I used to get a driving license, something I always wanted. In my district having a driving license was a really cool thing.
Working abroad as construction worker is an experience that surely leaves a mark…
It gave me an incredible advantage in politics, though at that time I did not realize the difficult social backgrounds of the people I was spending my time with, because I was part of it. In my career, I had the privilege to talk with people who did humble jobs, just to keep their families going; and I had the privilege to talk with kings and presidents.
In my career, I had the privilege to talk with people who did humble jobs, just to keep their families going; and I had the privilege to talk with kings and presidents.
How did your academic career develop?
At sixteen I was sure I was going to go to the military academy in Lithuania. But at the beginning of the 12th grade, the last school year in Lithuania, I thought it would be more interesting to study abroad. And I remember presenting this idea to my mum and she said it would be financially very difficult. So I tried to save as much as possible and I started emailing all the Lithuanians that were already studying abroad, asking about their costs, their saving strategies. And that’s how I ended up in Wales in 2009.
How was it to study there?
It was great, because it is far from everything and my town, Aberystwyth, was populated by students, the key engine of the local economy. The ratio back then was 15,000 students and around 8, maybe 10,000 Welsh people.
Any particular reason you picked that specific town?
It was the first seat in the UK to establish an International Relations faculty and they managed to attract many good speakers and teachers. I had also considered Scotland, but their bachelor was four years long, in Wales it was only three. And I had a lot of free time, so I could work a bit and also play basketball.
Coming and going from Lithuania in the first decade of the century, was there a moment that you felt your country had made it?
Every country is a never-ending project, it is never perfect. But 2004 was for sure a big change, joining the EU, opening the borders. That cost us a lot of talents that left, especially to the UK and Ireland. But it also brought new perspectives: thanks to foreign direct investments, we saw professional competition, salary increases and institutional improvements. But even before that, even witnessing my mum’s everyday struggles with her job, I never thought that Lithuania was a bad country or a failing country that everyone should leave.
Every country is a never-ending project,
it is never perfect.
What gave you this sense of hope and attachment to your country?
Joining the Riflemen Union was important to develop that kind of feeling. I don’t know if my mum realized the impact it had on me, when she pushed me to do that; and she had to insist with the registration clerk, because I was only thirteen and the minimum age was fourteen. They agreed to make an exception, but I could not join the camps until fourteen.
How come you didn’t stay in Wales for your master?
The fee for a master was very high and I also had the feeling that I explored Aberystwyth to the maximum; it was time to leave my comfort zone and move forward. So I’ve decided to try the Netherlands and go to Maastricht to study EU law.
Why did you decide to move from economics to EU studies?
After my bachelor degree, I did an internship in the government of Lithuania (in the Unit of Regional and Ethnic Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister, ed). I spoke with some diplomats and they all told me: “The EU is where big decisions are made!”. And they were advising me to think about EU studies and some of them recommended Maastricht, they told me I should not go anywhere else.
This must hit hard on the readers who went to the College of Europe. Were you already dreaming about the EU institutions?
No, not at all, to be honest. In Maastricht I won a scholarship to work in Washington D. C. very early, in December already. So I didn’t think about applying for a traineeship in the EU institutions. And I was already together with Kateryna, the girl who later would become my wife, and I remember telling her about my plan to move to the US and she was very happy, but then we quickly realized that might be the end of our relationship.
Where did you meet her?
In Maastricht, we were studying the same master.
She’s Dutch?
No, Ukrainian.
So you managed to survive the long distance?
Actually, she also won a traineeship in the US, at the Freedom House in New York.
(Vilnius, 2014)
Close enough to Washington. And you, what did you do in the US?
I worked at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a public policy institution that tries to strengthen the transatlantic alliance.
A difficult task nowadays… Who was the promoter?
The Baltic-American Freedom Foundation, established in 1989 by Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians living in the US. One of their scholarships offered the opportunity to work in the US for a year, with the condition that you had to return for at least two years to your home country.
Would you have stayed longer in the US?
Not really, I was a bit homesick. You see, everywhere I was before, I always felt that I was close to Lithuania. But the US, it was really far. And it was hard to speak with my family. So I had no doubts I wanted to go back home after one year, at least for a while.
And how was this working experience?
It was excellent: I got very close to the Lithuanian embassy and, fun fact, there I met the Deputy Ambassador Simonas Šatūnas, who later became my Head of Cabinet (now Kubilius’s Head of Cabinet, ed). I told him: “I work in this think tank, but I would like to do something for my country”. And he took me to the Congress to meet senators and congressmen, and this gave me the chance to see how Lithuanian diplomacy works.
This was in 2013-2014, how was the EU-US relation back then?
The US was turning away from Eastern and Central Europe, I realized that quite quickly after I arrived; for them Europe was already a success, there was nothing left to do there.
The US was turning away from Eastern and Central Europe; for them Europe was already a success, there was nothing left to do there.
What made them so optimistic?
Because our region, and Poland and the Czech Republic, were really pro-western, pro-NATO, pro-EU. We ticked all the boxes, and we shared the values on which the United States built the world on after WWII: human rights, liberal democracy, international institutions. It’s sad to think all this work might be ruined in these days.
So Washington didn’t think that the reason Baltic countries are so pro-NATO is because they perceive the enemy as being very close?
Genuinely, no. After all, you remember how Russia occupied Crimea: They sent people without insignia, occupying key strategic points and Putin was blatantly lying to everyone: “We have nothing to do with these people, we don’t know them”. And everyone believed him, they were wondering: “Who could these people be? Who is their leader?”.
And now this killer, rapist and thief, who is responsible for so many deaths is being fully legitimized by the US. This is really unthinkable to me, it is clear that the world is changing rapidly.
You were the first Commissioner to visit Ukraine, what to you think about the EU response to that crisis?
It could have been stronger. I remember, when I came back from Kyiv I went straight to Berlin and met Robert Habeck (the Vice Chancellor of Germany and Minister for Economy and Climate who was responsible for the Russian gas rationing law, ed) and we spent forty minutes walking on the Bundestag roof, discussing all the issues. And he told me: “You know, so many things are not possible because of German history”. And I told him: “Robert, forget about history, this is a whole new chapter”.
I told him: “Robert, forget about German history, this is a whole new chapter”.
To Robert Habeck, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
A very sad chapter… So, you finished your year in the US and then back to Lithuania?
Yes, I was preparing that come back! I proposed to Kateryna and I invited her to go to Lithuania, a country she had never visited. I received a few job offers, but in the end Lukas Savickas (Lithuania’s current Minister of Economy, ed) convinced me to join Create Lithuania (KurkLT, a government initiative focused on innovating the Lithuanian public sector, ed). And this is where the core people that established the Democrats party met (Sinkevičius’ party, which split from the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union in 2022, ed).
Lithuania, and the Baltic States in general, managed to recover from the scars of Soviet occupation in a few decades. Why do you think you were so successful, compared to other new EU countries, like Hungary or Romania?
It’s what society is willing to accept that shapes politics. And when corrupted politicians are kept far from power you see improvements that benefit the whole society.
It’s what society is willing to accept that shapes politics.
Where does this low tolerance for corruption come from?
That strictness comes from Scandinavia, and a bit from Germany. If we were not occupied by Russia, we could have already been like Finland.
And yet, thirty years ago, and I quote a senior Lithuanian official, Lithuanians were “used to the culture of stealing; if you wanted to survive you had to steal the bricks from the state”.
When everything is owned by the state, this approach develops. I suppose in Lithunia you might still find this soviet mentality but in a smaller degree than thirty years ago. Because people nowadays feel a certain ownership of their country. Also, the living standards increased a lot, so stealing bricks is not needed anymore.
That’s comforting. How did you reach national politics?
At that time, Saulius Skvernelis, the current speaker of the Parliament, was the coolest politician on the market, every party wanted him. And he was consulting different people, including young ones like me. And I remember everyone at the table told him to join the Liberals; I was the only suggesting to join the Farmers and Greens. I told him that Liberals were already very popular, so his contribution wouldn’t be so significant; on the other hand, with Farmers and Greens he could be the absolute leader, he would get a blank sheet where to write his own story.
A very strategic approach. Was it successful?
It was. But I remember I was worried about other things at that time: my first son was born on March 28. And in April Skvernelis made his choice to join the Farmers and Greens and he asks me to run as candidate, a possibility that I never really considered. And I was not sure, because the elections were in October, very soon. Greens and Farmers were already very high in the polls, because the Liberals got into a big corruption scandal, and Skvernelis’ popularity was skyrocketing.
In the end, I joined my first electoral campaign in July, with very little expectations. As the Greens were weak in the Vilnius region, I could pick any single-member constituency, and I chose the one where I grew up.
I joined my first electoral campaign in July, with very little expectations.
Playing at home always helps!
It does! When I did door to door I knew every house, I knew how things developed there, and it gave me the chance to bring back some memories. And people were very kind to me. Even though they didn’t know me, they knew I was a local boy.
Did you manage to stay in touch with your childhood friends over the years?
Yes, though we never really discussed politics, we were mainly talking about basketball.
How did you sponsor your campaign?
We didn’t have any money and the party was busy with other constituencies, so I just relied on door to door. My wife and my sister helped me a lot, and so did a couple of my former classmates, and whoever was available. In Vilnius we have 14 single-member constituencies and we reached the second round only in two of them, one was mine. So the party could support me more in the second round and I managed to win, even if my opponent was a former Minister of Foreign Affairs (Audronius Ažubalis, ed).
Were you the youngest member of the new Parliament?
Unfortunately not, Rūta Miliūtė, also from the Greens, was 10 days younger than me.
How does it feel to be twenty-six years old and to sit for the first time in your Parliament?
It felt very natural to me, because we had a very clear and well-written program. And we had big numbers, 52 seats. And I never felt the age difference, older colleagues were quite nice. In fact, I was elected as chair of the Committee on economics, which was in charge of transport, economy, energy and a bit of finance. And there were many strong politicians in my committee, even from the opposition, like Landsbergis that I think you already met. The procedural work went smoothly, and I think that earned me a good name in the Parliament.
When the Minister of Economy (Mindaugas Sinkevičius, the two are not related, ed) resigned, I was very surprised to see that my name was the only one circulating as possible successor.
You served for two years as Minister of Economy, until you were chosen as commissioner. How did that go?
There was a lot of competition. I remember the Prime Minister said: “I know that all the fourteen ministers in this room want to become a commissioners, but only one is going to be chosen”.
The Prime Minister said: ‘I know that all the fourteen ministers in this room want to become a commissioners, but only one is going to be chosen’.
[Surprised] All of them wanted to be come commissioners? What is so attractive, besides the salary?
You are seeing things from an Italian perspective, that’s a big country. But for us smaller countries having EU responsibilities is very attractive. Look at the current Commission composition, Baltics were very serious with their names, we put three former Prime Ministers (Kallas, Dombrovskis, Kubilius, ed) forward.
True, I suffer of big country bias. In Brussels, no one can hear you scream, to quote Borgen.
Ahah, the same happens with Germans. I remember talking to Bjoern Seibert (von der Leyen’s Head of Cabinets, ed) and he was also surprised that Lithuanian politicians would prefer a EU position to their national ones.
So, how did you win against the other thirteen candidates?
I didn’t participate in the European Parliament elections but I was among the most popular ministers and I was party vice-chair. So the Parliament and the Prime Minister agreed, though they were not so happy, because they wanted me to run in the elections.
Did you also have to propose a female politician?
Yes, von der Leyen suggested that, but we proposed three men: the Minister of Energy, Finance and Economics.
What do you think persuaded von der Leyen to choose you?
I am pretty sure that my age played an important role, having the youngest commissioner sends a powerful message even if it is a bit of a gamble. Also, my professional experience showed that I am a good team player, something that is very important for a commissioner and my studies gave me a deep knowledge of the EU inner workings.
A commissioner already knowledgeable in EU matters, no wonder von der Leyen was impressed. Did she already mention which portfolio she had in mind for you?
That was quite funny: I was prepared on Research and Innovation, the portfolio I really wanted. And I expected she would propose that, as in Lithuania I already implemented innovation reforms following the EU guidelines.
So, during the interview with her, I was talking a lot about innovation. And then she starts talking about the Green Deal: “What do you think about these young people asking for climate justice?”. And I’m sitting there, a bit puzzled, thinking: “Is R&D being shaped around this?”
Then when she called the President of Lithuania, she said that my portfolio is going to be climate and environment and that the Green Deal was going to be its key policy.
The hottest potato in Brussels, the policy everybody say it’s needed but nobody wants to vote for…
That’s more or less what I told her, after she announced that: “This will be a constant battle and I am not a former prime minister with seventy years of experience in politics, I will need your support”.
And she said: “I will support you, don’t worry, just give me some ambitious proposals and I’ll be there”. And that’s true, whenever I needed support with difficult files she was there. I really appreciated that, for those five years we had a great relationship.
Whenever I needed support with difficult files of the Green Deal, von der Leyen was there for me.
How was it to be grilled by the European Parliament ?
It was tough, I had to persuade the MEPs that despite my young age I was fit for the post. And at that time, the hearings were a serious thing, not a walk in the park like today.
What changed?
In 2024 it was pre-agreed, while in 2019 it was all unexpected. And three commissioners were rejected, mostly because of corruption allegations back at home.
How was it to work with the support of the President of the Commission but with a strong opposition inside the EPP, her own political group?
At the beginning the EPP was greener than the Greens. Do you remember the previous German elections? They wanted to go further in the climate goals. Now, of course, everyone has forgotten that, the EPP is more of a farmers’ party.
Everybody speaks of the Green Deal as it came from the Greens party. But look at the commission back then, the Greens had zero people (I wasn’t from the Greens back then). And in the Parliament, Greens had 70 seats and they weren’t even part of the coalition.
Has the spirit of your work been betrayed?
In a way… Back then we gave some directions to businesses, proposing ways to make them more environment-friendly; and many of them followed them. And now we might revert all this work. This is so weird to me and these changes must be done with extreme caution.
They say regulations hinder competitiveness…
But the Green Deal has nothing to do with that. I remember when I was a minister, Elżbieta Bieńkowska was the commissioner, and every meeting we had, all the ministers were already lamenting the lack of competitiveness compared to India, China and the US; and the Green Deal did not exist yet.
Somebody should say that our dependencies on Russian gas and the war Russia started after that didn’t help our competitiveness, rather than blaming it on the Green Deal. There are lots of smart people here, but they simplify politics so much that it becomes Trumpian, like pretending that the relationship between countries is just a trade balance.
And that’s what populism is: people that simplify everything, people that pretend that a very simple fix can solve very complex problems. And it never works, and when they are elected they have zero ideas.
at that time, the hearings were a serious thing, not a walk in the park like today.
Maybe it’s easier to explain it to people in this way and make them accept unpleasant decisions?
I understand that. On the other hand, that’s why we are elected, so that we can look at these extremely complicated things and find the way forward, using the proper language to explain it to people.
Being raised in a working-class district, do you think it is possible to explain this complexity to the average voters, without resorting to populism?
I want to believe that. When I grew up, we had two forms of news, newspapers and the evening news; and you read books and talked with your friends to consolidate them. Compared to today, the access to information was limited. But with the endless flow of information we have now, we think we know more, but probably we know less. The algorithms that do the information search for us create a lots of confusion and I am not surprised people look for simpler and reassuring narratives.
I always start the negotiation assuming that both parts want to create a better society, even if we have different view on what that means.
Most of your friends describe you as somebody who doesn’t like to lose, especially at basketball. How is it, for somebody with such temperament, to work for the EU institutions, where victories are measured in centuries?
It’s true, when I moved here to Brussels, I wanted to score, even if I did not develop the Green Deal from scratch. And I think there were victories: I am very proud of the Nature Restoration Law, and that was extremely difficult to approve.
When I moved here to Brussels, I wanted to score with the Green Deal.
How did you approach those who were skeptical or against it?
I always start the negotiation assuming that everybody in the room wants the best for the people: we all want to create a better society and better conditions, even if we have different view on what that means. And this is my initial position and this helps bridging different views and finding good compromises.
How did you feel when part of the EPP started campaigning against the Nature Restoration Law?
I understand that politics also means finding different ways and tools to mobilize your electorate. But I think there where many ways they could have done that elegantly. It felt good to be on winning side, if I remember correctly by just six votes, but I was not triumphant.
How was it to work with Timmermans?
Very pleasant, Frans never treated me as a junior colleague. And he left me a lot of space on the Green Deal, he had his climate agenda to follow and if there were no issues, he didn’t get involved. And in the coffee breaks we were discussing football… we are still in touch today.
You also worked with Barnier on the Brexit negotiation, how was it?
A real gentleman. In Genval, when we had the first meeting of the College, Barnier gave a speech about Brexit and at the end he said he wanted to speak with the youngest member of the College. And I was sitting there, a bit surprised, thinking: “Why did he pick me?”. He wanted to speak about fisheries. He told me we had to work very closely: “That’s going to be your most difficult file”.
A caring and scaring warning from his side.
We also stayed in touch, I remember congratulating him for becoming French Prime Minister and he replied mentioning that he knew it might be a short journey.
How was the atmosphere in the College, was it like Schinas mentioned, with some cultural and geographical groups?
I think I talked more or less with everybody, also being non-party affiliated made some connections easier. I was very close to Timmermans, Vestager and Urpilainen but I had a very positive relation with all the other members.
Not even a little fight?
Not that I recall of. Decision-making in the Commission starts from the very low level, DGs level, and then it reaches the cabinet level, then the Heads of Cabinets, where the biggest fights happen. When the product arrives at the Commissioners it is already distilled; and it’s such a pure product that there is very little left to fight about. Just a couple of times I spotted some very well EPP-orchestrated discussions.
Ah, EU politics, it’s like a beautiful chess game played on three different chessboards, with hidden pieces and booby traps. What was the funniest episode you remember?
Funny? [a few seconds of pause] [annoyed] Lord Frost, I guess. I always said to Barnier that he is much more Lord than him. Anyways, we were negotiating fish quotas, and Lord Frost went on saying “It’s UK fish, it’s UK fish”. And at a certain point I had enough and I told him: “Look, fish is a migratory animal, it can start from European waters and then swim to UK waters and then back to the EU. Why is it that Lithuanians who are coming to the UK can’t become UK citizens but a fish that changes water should be considered a UK fish?”. And finally he calmed down for a while.
Why Lithuanians who are coming to the UK can’t become UK citizens but a fish that changes water between EU and UK should be considered a UK fish?
How was the fish quota negotiation?
[very passionate] It was very difficult. We knew it would be painful, because we had to give some fish back to the UK, but we had to distribute it equally among the bordering countries. We had all the prime ministers, ministers, advisers on the phone constantly on, saying: “No, this is not acceptable to us, why don’t you change this and that?”. If you remember, the Brexit press conference was supposed to be at eight and then nine, finally at twelve, when we managed to reach an agreement on fish quotas.
What was the difficult part?
The initial proposition made by the UK was not acceptable to us. And I told them: “I understand that fisheries is peanuts, compared to the whole Brexit agreement, but to those fishing communities it is life”.
Intense days at the Commission. And that you are a Member of the Parliament, you can tell us, what is the biggest difference among the two?
At the Parliament everything is, unsurprisingly, very politicized. Here people remember what your group voted in 2009 and that MEP made an amendment against that specific law 8 years ago. In the Commission you feel this less: there is a problem to solve and everybody tries to contribute to its solution.
Good to know collegiality works. Talking about your transport portfolio: I see on the whiteboard behind you “Rail Baltica, “Single ticket”, and you know I am a big traveler, so give me hope: what can we achieve, realistically, in terms of a single railway ticket for the whole EU?
“By the way, did you really have a MAGA hat in your office?”
“Yes, for a short time, a souvenir from a friend, nothing more. But looking at what’s happening in US politics now, let’s just say some souvenirs age worse than others.”
I am quite optimistic, the Commission should bring a proposal within a year about a single-ticketing option for trains. Because now, if you want to book a journey from France to Germany, you have to go through different websites and it is often confusing. I understand the struggles of the railway business, because it has a very thin margin, especially when it’s passenger trains.
Would you say the importance of this objective is fully understood?
Absolutely. To show the world that we are a continent of excellence, we have to strengthen the Single Market; and the more barriers we are going to break, the better we make it. We did it for our borders, we did it for roaming, and recently for electricity synchronization; now we have to do it with banks, with booking accommodation and with travel ticketing.
To show the world that we are a continent of excellence, we have to strengthen the Single Market.
Last question, really. After you were made commissioner, I remember joking with some 30+ colleagues that you were as successful as a 28 years old could be. Would you have any suggestion for wannabe eurocrats? What is needed, besides ambition and luck?
Ah, luck is for sure part of it. For me, the most important thing is developing a bond with people: my whole political career started with people writing a mark next to my name on the ballot.
Special thanks to Dovilé Sandaraité for organizing the interview; and to Martina, Anna and Raphael for proof-reading it.