3 June 2009
Your Excellency President of the Republic of Poland,
Your Excellency Marshal of the
Sejm,
Your Excellency Marshal of the
Senate,
Dear Prime Minister,
Ladies and gentlemen!
It is my privilege and pleasure
on behalf of the Seimas of the Republic
of Lithuania to convey congratulations to you on the 20th
Anniversary of the first free election in post-war Poland. The election held at
the conclusion of the Round Table Talks between Solidarnoúã and the government was most probably the first step of the “block” from
behind the iron curtain into freedom and democracy. Historical documents tell
of the then Polish authorities’ realisation that the old methods of violence
and martial law applied in the past would not work any more – millions of
people were for Solidarnoúã, no good
were attempts to allocate posts in the future government as no good was the
manipulation of election results for retaining power. Polish people
unequivocally showed their choice - freedom and democracy. That was the day
when the state once deported came back home.
The 1989 events in Poland had repercussions in Lithuania and the entire
region – Vilnius had witnessed the appearance of the Sàjûdis a year before, followed by the People’s Fronts in Latvia
and Estonia, which united two million Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians into
the human chain of the Baltic Way on the 23rd of August 1989 – the
choice that led us to the 11th of March 1990, the restoration of the
independent state, and finally to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We were
together then and there was solidarity between us. When the Holy Father told
you “Do not be afraid”, we heard his words too. The truth set us free. The
velvet singing revolution – that is how historians and political scientists
will call it later to describe the fundamental changes on our continent in a
miraculously short span of time. While we took is as our life. It had a
snowball effect, brought about more and more change and finally demolished the
Warsaw Pact. Brothers and sisters in Poland, we are again an integral part of
our united continent. We could hardly dream two decades ago that this year we
would go to the ballots to elect members of the European Parliament for the second
time already, and that we would be building the future of the European Union as
a fully-fledged member of the family.
Two decades later, democracy and freedom now have become the air we
breathe, we neither think about it nor feel it. Neither do we think every day
about the tests and trials they stand – lower turnout at elections, wavering
trust in political institutions, and particularly now in the face of the
economic downturn some may even think that democratic procedures are a luxury
we cannot afford. However, it is the flexibility of democratic institutions;
their ability to implement change; their ability to maintain open interaction
between public leaders and ordinary people; their ability to focus on an
individual – those probably are the greatest democracy’s advantages which we
should try to retain.
Fellow Deputies and Senators,
On such a festive day as today
what comes to my mind is not only 1989 but our prominent common history too
witnessed by the coat of arms of our two nations in the Royal Palace and the
1st written constitution in Europe, the crown of Rzeczpospolita’s political thought and culture. I wish to
recall that we were together in the happy moments when we listened to “Lato z radiem” and the painful moments
when we were together on the 13the of January 1991, we are together today. We
must look at the future together and see joint energy, infrastructure,
education and cultural projects. Let us join our efforts for them to come true.
Since we are together not only because of the outstanding personalities of the
two nations, who lived and worked both in Warsaw and in Vilnius, we are
together because of millions of our states’ ordinary citizens who contribute to
the writing of our states’ modern history by their hard everyday work. They
elected us to represent them. Today’s holiday is first and foremost their
holiday. The following idea comes from your renowned thinkers: It is not enough
for election to be democratic to create a good parliament. So let us work
together and be worthy of the Poland and Lithuania, and Europe we dreamt about.
For our freedom and your! Za waszà i naszà wolnoúã!
