Press release, 24 August 2015
On 21 August 2015, a commemoration of the 26th anniversary of the historical meeting of Lithuanians from all over the world and adoption of the Gotland Communiqué, which paved the way to the Act of the 11 March, was held in the manor house of Katthamragarden located in Katthammarsvik on the island of Gotland in Sweden.
A memorial plaque to mark the anniversary of the Gotland Communiqué was inaugurated during the commemoration attended by the Speaker of the Seimas, Loreta Graužinienė; the Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament), Urban Ahlin; the Governor of Gotland County, Cecilia Schelin Seidegård, and participants of the historical Gotland events: the founder of the Lithuanian Reform Movement Sąjūdis, the President of the Lithuanian Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, Signatory to the Act of Independence of Lithuania and former MEP Prof. Vytautas Landsbergis and Signatory to the Act of Independence of Lithuania, former MEP and diplomat, Justas Vincas Paleckis. Participants of the event were welcomed by its organisers: the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Sweden, Eitvydas Bajarūnas, the owner of the manor house of Katthamragarden, Jakob Gustafsson, and the Honorary Consul of Lithuania in Gotland, Dalia Andersson.
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The commemoration was also attended by yachtsmen who came for this even from Lithuania; staff members of the Lithuanian Embassy, representatives of the diplomatic and local political community, and society representatives.
While addressing the participants, the Speaker of the Seimas, Loreta Graužinienė, highlighted an exceptional significance of the Gotland Communiqué. “The Gotland Communiqué affirmed to Europe and the whole world that our vital aim and aspiration is re-establishment of the independent and free Lithuania. It is therefore reasonable to state that this document laid a solid basis for the declaration of independence of Lithuania proclaimed on 11 March 1990,” said the Speaker.
The Speaker of the Swedish Riksdag, Urban Ahlin, noted that the Gotland Communiqué not only laid the foundation for the restoration of an independent state of Lithuania but also served as an excellent opportunity to consolidate the friendly relations between Sweden and Lithuania, which were based on cooperation, respect and mutual understanding.”
As stated by Prof. Landsbergis, the Gotland Communique was an event of special significance in the whole chain of events which took place in 1989, such as the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the democratic elections in Poland that led to the Independent Self-governing Trade Union “Solidarity” coming into power. Shortly after the Lithuanian study week in Gotland that was for the first time attended by representatives of the occupied Lithuania alongside their fellow-countrymen from the free world, the historical “Baltic Way” was held on 23 August 1989, which declared to the world that the Baltic nations wanted to be free and independent.
Mr Paleckis noted that the Lithuanian event held on the island of Gotland in 1989 was the occurrence that evoked strong interest of Swedish politicians, the press and the public.
The participants suggested it was quite symbolic that the Lithuanian study week in 1989 took place namely in Gotland – the Swedish island in the Baltic Sea, which was the closest point from Lithuania to the free world at that time. As pointed out by Ambassador Bajarūnas, the inauguration of the commemorative plaque of the Gotland Communiqué would undoubtedly become an important sign of a new stage of common history of Lithuania and Sweden witnessing of the friendship of our two nations.
One year ago, on 6 August 2014, the 25th anniversary of the Gotland Communiqué was solemnly commemorated at the Seimas.
The 36th Lithuanian study week, which culminated in the Gotland Communiqué, took place in Katthammarsvik on the Island of Gotland in Sweden on 30 July – 6 August 1989. Numerous Lithuanians and Lithuanian diaspora politicians, public figures, actors of the Youth Theatre and representatives of Lithuanian culture attended the Lithuanian study week. Many of them came from Lithuania by sailing boats. The European Lithuanian study week was attended by over a hundred participants and guests, a quarter of them coming from Lithuania. Among the main organisers of the study week were: famous activist of emigration and resistance, Jonas Pajaujis, who lived on the island of Gotland at that time; painter Eugenijus Budrys; medical doctor Edvardas Varnauskas, Gintautas Būga and other Lithuanians based in Sweden.
The Gotland Communiqué was signed by representatives of Lithuania and Lithuanian diaspora on the island of Gotland (Sweden) on August 6, 1989. The document states “that the vital aim of all the Lithuanians around the globe is re-establishment of the independent state of Lithuania.” It was for the first time that representatives of different political forces in Lithuania and Lithuanian diaspora expressed their support to the determination of Lithuanians from all over the world to restore the independent Lithuanian state. The 1989 Communiqué was signed by the Chairman of the Chief Committee for the Liberation of Lithuania, Kazys Bobelis; member of the Seimas Council of the Lithuanian Reform Movement “Sąjūdis” and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Science History and Philosophy Association, Antanas Buračas; member of the Seimas Council of the Lithuanian Reform Movement “Sąjūdis” and the Chairman of the Lithuanian Cultural Foundation, Česlovas Kudaba; the Chairman of the Seimas Council of the Lithuanian Reform Movement “Sąjūdis”, Vytautas Landsbergis, the Vice President of the Lithuanian World Community, Irena Lukoševičienė; member of the Seimas Council of the Lithuanian Reform Movement “Sąjūdis” and the Vice President of the National Olympic Committee of Lithuania, Kazimieras Motieka; the Head of the Culture and Ideology Departments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania, Justas Paleckis, and the Chairman of Lithuanian Freedom League, Antanas Terleckas.
Based on the information of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to the Kingdom of Sweden
