11 March 2009
Your Excellency
President Valdas Adamkus, President Algirdas Brazauskas, Prime Minister,
Signatories to the Act of Independence, President of the Constitutional Court,
diplomats of foreign countries, ladies and gentlemen.
Today we are
commemorating the 19th anniversary of our freedom. When standing in front of
this building we feel the live flow of history. We still remember ourselves
united, brave, full of hope, and determination. This is where we began our road
to the new history of Lithuania.
We were not
alone on this road. Our historic neighbours, Latvia and Estonia, were with us.
When we look back at the past years we see things that make us proud. We have
created modern democratic states, we have returned to the space of western democracy,
and we have settled there; the conditions of freedom have brought up and
matured a new generation of young people.
We are
determined to do all we can to retain our identity, to be safe, and to have
even more courage on the road to renewal. We are the nations and the states
capable of doing this.
Traditionally we
are hoisting the flags of the three Baltic States, the flags eloquent about the
rich history of our countries, about our desire for freedom, about us being a
part of the world now and in the future.
Let me
congratulate each of you on the occasion of the Day of Independence
Restoration. Let the work we do in our free and independent life be a success.
