11 March 2011
Signatories to the
Act of Restoration of
Lithuania's Independence, Members of the Reconstituent
Seimas,
Mr President Valdas Adamkus,
Colleagues, Members
of the Seimas and Government,
Guests and Fellow
Countrymen,
Lithuania is
commemorating the 11th of March: its festivity and the Day of Restoration of Independence. Many of
us today cast our minds back to that spring evening of 1990, which was not only
full of uncertainty, but also of hope and belief, and to the inimitable state
of mind when we watched in excitement our National Revival Movement turn into
political Independence.
Let us remember all
the people who made it happen and who are no longer with us, who celebrate the
21st anniversary of the Restoration
of our Independence. Let us remember the late signatories to the Act of 11 March 1990, let us remember all
the defenders and creators of Lithuania, who have already passed away but whose
names and deeds come to our mind today. Let us stay with them in our thoughts
and pay tribute to their memory by a minute of silence. ... Thank
you.
By the way, have we ever thought why the people
whom we have lost are honoured by silence? Is it so because our daily work that
is, regrettably, far from always being meaningful, all hustle and bustle and
obsession with detail cast into shade the essential questions of what kind of
people we are. Why do we not always follow our
conscience and morality? What kind of nation and state are we? What are we and
what would we like to be?
Guided by search for
the answers to these questions, tired of historical and daily lies and forced
hypocrisy, Lithuania launched the National Revival Movement and took the road
towards Independence. On 11 March 1990 it turned into reality!
Barely a year had
passed before we had to shed our blood defending our decision and aspiration of
11 March. At the same time, the following words were dedicated to our Revival
Movement and our holy sacrifice, I cite: We woke up for freedom and
instantly saw the tanks and machine-guns pointing at us. Unarmed, only with the
word “Lithuania!” on its lips, the nation fended off the aggression and kneeled
down to mourn the perished. We shed a tear of eternal grief, laid a never-fading flower of love and lit an
ever-burning candle of memory on their graves. We grew larger inspired by their
heroism, firmness and resolve. These people did not downplay death or pose for
the camera: they were free and that is why some of them were crushed by tanks
or hit by machine-gun rounds. They passed away to enter the eternal Lithuania”,
end of quotation.
These words were
written by the late poet Justinas Marcinkevičius,
the cherisher of the national memory and the swan of the Sąjūdis.
He wrote it in tribute to the victims of 13 January but at the same time
he seemed to be looking forward to the forthcoming two decades of freedom. How
much of the eternal Lithuania resting on ideals and values, conscience and
justice, patient work and duty is here in his words? And how much of fleeting
Lithuania enabling self-enrichment on account of fellow-countrymen, showing off
its material comforts and having nothing in common with the human solidarity
and humanity can be noticed? Let us leave this question for the conscience of
each of us to answer.
May a fair answer to
this question help the spirit of 11 March to return to Lithuania? Let us
remember that the word “Act” in Latin means “Action”. Thus, the Act of
Independence is not merely a document to be put under the glass in a museum and
dusted before solemn commemorations. This is a commitment to act patiently,
sparing no effort or time, believing in the significance of efforts and in a
human being close by. To act in a way that the people acted fostering the
Lithuanian national spirit at all times, guiding Lithuania towards 16 February
and inspiring for the Sąjūdis as well as 11
March.
Twenty-one year of
freedom seems to be a period long enough to get rid of the Soviet relics and
erase them from thoughts and deeds and to become genuinely free. After all,
this period of freedom witnessed many wonderful and delightful events starting
from the withdrawal of the foreign army, our actual return to Europe and ending
with the creation of charming works of art and achievement of historic
victories by our sportsmen. These things are real and they support and strengthen
us. It is not enough though. Lithuania needs to come together as one and become
more united, self-confident, humane, and, for sure, just. As I have already
said, Lithuania needs the spirit of 11 March to return.
This is a difficult
task, but there is hardly any other way. In that is our resemblance to our
Homeland of 1990. On 11 March 1990, Lithuania proved that we could do great
deeds with faith and trust in the human being, the nation, the state and the
heavenly Lord.
I thank you all who
are upholding and strengthening this faith. In the light of this faith, I
congratulate Lithuania and each citizen with our holiday – the Day of
Restoration of Independence!”
Irena Degutienė
Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
