The national flag hoisting ceremony was held today in commemoration of the 24th anniversary of the Day of the Defenders of Freedom.
When delivering a speech during the event, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, emphasised that “we have gathered today in the noble memory of and with the greatest respect to all the defenders of freedom of Lithuania who stood firmly like a living wall to protect our independence on 13 January 1991. Their determination and courage were inspired by the faith in freedom of Lithuania that was taking its first steps of independence. That freedom was burning within each and every of us. It was a joint and the only choice made by our people on our own free will and with an open heart”.
The Speaker said that today we bowed our heads in profound gratitude to those who had stood guard unanimously at the Parliament, the TV Tower, the building of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television and elsewhere that night. “Ever since that night, all the defenders of our young country have borne the name of FREEDOM,” Loreta Graužinienė noted.
At the national flag hoisting ceremony, the Speaker emphasised that “the greatest victory we won on the night of 13 January 1991, however, is the children of the independent Lithuania, who have a natural right to freedom. Seeing the complex geopolitical situation and looking at the events in Ukraine, we have to be ready to protect Lithuania – our democratic and independent homeland – at any time”.
The ceremony was also attended by Heads of State of the Republic of Lithuania, Members of the Seimas and the Government, Signatories to the Act of Independence, Command of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, representatives of foreign diplomatic missions, heads of Vilnius District and Vilnius City, representatives of non-governmental organisations, as well as guests and residents of the capital. Defenders of the state of Lithuania and relatives of the victims, who died for freedom of Lithuania, took part in the national flag hoisting ceremony, too.
The national flag hoisting ceremony was administered by the Lithuanian Honour Guard Company and the Orchestra of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
More information on the events and the comprehensive Programme of the Commemoration of the Day of the Defenders of Freedom are available on the special website.
Nerijus Vėta, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6208, e-mail: [email protected]
