Press release, 11 March 2015
A solemn commemoration of the Anniversary of the Day of Restoration of Lithuania’s Independence was held at the Seimas. The commemorative meeting was addressed by President of the Republic of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė; Speaker of the Seimas, Loreta Graužinienė; Archbishop of Vilnius, Gintaras Grušas; President of the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, Vytautas Landsbergis, and President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. Congressman from Illinois, Co-Chair of Baltic Caucus, John Shimkus, congratulated Lithuania on behalf of the Congress of the United States.
While congratulating Lithuania with the holiday of freedom, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, stressed that what we needed a quarter of a century after the Restoration of Independence was the unity inspired by the legendary reform movement Sąjūdis again. “When the rattling of arms is heard again from the same direction; when firearms are used to stifle the voice of freedom; when not only the outside forces, but those inside too try to divide, to belittle and to fade the light of freedom, we will be as strong as we are united,” Dalia Grybauskaitė said.
In her speech the Speaker of the Seimas, Loreta Graužinienė, expressed her gratitude to the Signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania: “I believe that at the moment of signing the Act of Independence of Lithuania they were already free since only free people are able to make choices and only a free man can understand that compulsion, violence, aggression and terror have no power against the inner freedom of a human being. Dear Signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania, your signature is a sign of boundless love to your Homeland, responsibility for its history, its future and for all those who fought and gave their lives.”
Metropolitan Archbishop of Vilnius, Gintaras Grušas, argued that in a state, like in a marriage, giving a promise of eternal love during the ceremony was not enough; you must put continuous efforts to prove your love. “The partisans did not need a referenda, the volunteers of the Lithuanian Sąjūdis did not require a law on conscription, because they loved their homeland and were ready to make sacrifices for it. Therefore, today we also have to remind each other within our families, our schools, our work places, directly personally and through the media about our common duty to defend free society.”
President of the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, Vytautas Landsbergis, reminded the participants that, despite all the pressure and threats, twenty five years ago every day seemed highly meaningful and each new day broke down like a gift showing that Lithuania was still alive and that it could proceed further into a totally unpromised, but sanguine future.
“We felt that people, the whole nation, were observing our work and approving of our key goal. This is why we had to stay here and not betray it. In fact, we used to hear demands and felt the pressure to retreat, not to seek what was impossible so that everything could end well. It was even in this hall that we happened to hear suggestions to take an ordinary “political decision”. However, such ideas came from a minority. With the aggression roaring, blood being shed, the world remaining silent, we were here building and defending our state further,” Vytautas Lansbergis said.
As the President of Iceland, Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, noted, it was in the last decade of the 20th century that the history of Lithuania and the Baltic nations became a beacon of democratic revolution, a forum where national movements, nourished by culture and the memory of previous times, inaugurated a new era in Europe and the Western World. “This historic struggle, the dramatic days in your capital, your towns and your regions, will forever live in our minds and in the memory of people everywhere, as proof that no empire is strong enough to defeat the will of united people”.
While reading the congratulatory message from the US, John Shimkus emphasised that the worsening situation along the eastern NATO borders raised valid concerns regarding the security of Lithuania and required the implementation of adequate defence measures. “The United States remains committed to bolster the security of Lithuania and other eastern Allies. As universal human values, international law, and stability are increasingly threatened, the free world must work closely to defend the international order against aggression and to guard against authoritarianism and instability.”
The solemn commemoration was chaired by the Speaker of the Seimas, Loreta Graužinienė, Chair of the Lithuanian Pupils’ Parliament, Gabrielė Makavičiūtė, and the President of the Lithuanian National Union of Students, Paulius Baltokas.
Lithuania received greetings on the 25th anniversary of the Restoration of Independence also from President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker; Vice-President of the European Commission, Frederica Mogherini, President of the European Council, Donald Tusk; Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolini; Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groisman; Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, David Usupashvili; President of the Salzburg Parliament, Brigitta Pallauf; Chairman of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of Belarus, Vladimir Andreichenko, and Chairman of the Council of the Republic of Belarus, Mikhail Miasnikovich; President of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Adrian Candu, and President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Ranko Krivokapić.
The participants of the commemoration listened to the coirs Ąžuoliukas and Liepaitės.
On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas adopted an Act On the Re-establishment of the State of Lithuania, with 124 Deputies voting in favour and 6 abstentions. The Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania, expressing the will of the nation, decreed and solemnly proclaimed that the execution of the sovereign powers of the State of Lithuania abolished by foreign forces in 1940, was re-established, and henceforth Lithuania was an independent state again.
Saulė Eglė Trembo, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas,
tel.+370 5 239 6203, e-mail: [email protected]
