Press release, 13 January 2016
Today, as we commemorate the Day of the Defenders of Freedom and remember the victims who fell in the battle for freedom, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, is convinced that it was the unity of the people of Lithuania that helped the country to gain freedom 25 years ago. She invites her fellow-citizens to maintain this sense of unity at all times.
The Speaker of the Seimas said that on the night of the 13th of January the whole nation joined together to defend its sovereign state and the right of the people and their children to live in a free country.
“Everyone felt summoned by the homeland for the crucial battle and all were determined to persevere to the very end. The night of the 13th of January bore testimony to the powerful unity of our people and their trust in victory, in the face of which weapons proved to be powerless. We were truly determined to fight for freedom, even if it came to be at the cost of our lives,” the Speaker of the Seimas said.
Ms Graužinienė invited all the people of Lithuania to maintain the unity of the nation as a source of its power and might.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, today, a quarter of a century after the events of January 1991, let us continue to be united as we go about our daily lives. Wherever we live, be it in the city, town or village, and whoever we are, be it the living witnesses to history, or the children of independence, let us open up to one another with deep trust. Let us hear each other without words. Let us feel each other with our hearts, as was the case in 1991. By pooling our efforts together, let us jointly surmount all the difficulties, overcome all the challenges, and continue working for the cause of Lithuania,” the Speaker of the Seimas said, while wishing all the people of Lithuania to cherish the memory and meaning of the events of the 13th of January today, every day, and always.
Rosvaldas Gorbačiovas, Senior Adviser to the Speaker of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6005, mob. +370 698 42 071, e-mail: [email protected]
