Media release of 4 December 2009
Speaker of the Seimas Irena Degutienė greeted the participants and guests of an international conference entitled “The Baltic Way – Way to Freedom”.
The Speaker noted that so far we remember the Baltic Way with emotion, and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact – with grievance and a question: Why and how could this happen in mid-twentieth century Europe?
“It was bad luck for us and our neighbours that throughout the 20th century the Baltic countries were the stage of geopolitical exchange between the great states, a kind of grey security zone,” said Mrs. Degutienė.
According to her, already for twenty years Eastern and Central Europe have been learning anew not to be afraid of truth, and have been trying anew to bring the phrase “the truth makes us free” to life.
“Most probably not only me, but also all of you who have gathered here, firstly think that membership of NATO and the European Union prevents the gloomy future prospects. Over twenty years, the methods and measures employed by different powers have changed; however, the motives and the logic have remained the same. Can we consider the world changed essentially, when we see that military interventions and secret geopolitical plots are replaced by energy blackmail, information attacks and bilateral agreements, which demolish the entire European security architecture? In the 20th century, we talked about geographical division of the spheres of influence. Yet, the present agreements in the energy sector, economy and other areas are based on the same principles.”
The Seimas Speaker pointed out that the primary benefit of belonging to a political or defensive group is that the position of every member of the group is respectable and vested with rights.
“Otherwise we will have to admit that neither NATO nor the European Union guarantees security and stability, because the agreements between the great states may simply formalize this membership,” added Mrs. Degutienė.
According to the Speaker, this is the reason for the states of our region to collectively focus on the objective that NATO and the European Union keep on proving their ability to solve problems relevant to all member states, regardless of their size, geopolitical situation or other criteria.
“On the other hand, many of these problems have to be solved by us – in our states and regions. History shows that as soon as a geopolitical wedge became apparent in the relations between Lithuania and Poland and as soon as the relations between Lithuania and the neighbouring Baltic countries became cold or deprived of a common focus, the whole region would become a political hostage of the great states,” noted Irena Degutienė.
According to the Head of Lithuanian Parliament, we should learn these historical lessons and not repeat the same mistakes again.
“We have to consolidate unity of the Baltic States and the entire region so that no competition over trivial matters can obscure the strategic goals,” stated Mrs. Degutienė. “It is necessary for Lithuania to understand who we are, who we want to be, and what role our state plays in Eastern and Central Europe. Doesn’t the current comparison of our state to a bridge or a corridor remind you of the aforementioned historical efforts to turn our state into a grey zone? Has the threat of becoming a “go-through yard” instead of a corridor really disappeared?”
The Seimas Speaker emphasised that the Baltic Way is our way to freedom which, besides a historical and political dimension, has a distinct moral dimension.
“It is often underestimated for the sake of interests; however, namely this dimension keeps the foundations of nations, states and organisations. Therefore, when creating a political, economic and moral European Union today, all members of the Community must keep to the uniform concept of history. Until Western European society realises why we condemn communist and fascist crimes alike, Europe will not be completely united; and we will be separated by a moral Berlin Wall,” added Mrs. Degutienė.
The Head of Parliament noted that without a common approach towards political justice and without paying attention to the history of part of Europe, we would not be able to discuss the creation of a harmonious, undivided, political and value-based Union.
Secretariat of the Speaker of the Seimas
Spokesperson Juozas Ruzgys, tel.: 239 6023, 8 698 42073
