Ladies and Gentlemen!
Twenty years ago Lithuania moved away from the Soviet occupation to freedom. It took only one and a half years for Sŕjűdis, the Lithuanian Reform Movement, to gain overwhelming support and trust of the people, to win general elections, to vote for independence and interim sovereign Constitution, to establish Government and to start tough talks with M. Gorbachev’s government about the normalisation of relations between Lithuania and the USSR. The latter took a year and a half more; during that period the newly independent Lithuania was granted recognition by Iceland, Russia of Boris Yeltsin and finally, after the August 1991 coup, by all European and American democracies. Such would be the scheme, but I wish to present you the story of real life hand in hand with death as a price for life.
During the second Soviet occupation – since 1944/45 – Lithuania resisted with arms for about ten years. That war for freedom was waged in the forests by young men and women as refusal of humiliation and disgrace. They were inspired by the sense of dignity and protest, by hopes that current post-war injustice cannot last very long and, to some extent, by the example of the heroic Finnish resistance during the famous Winter War. Now it was Lithuania‘s turn.
There is a picture taken in winter of 1949. A line of men with arms, covering themselves in white linen coats, are approaching through a snowy forest... The Finns would think they recognised in that photo themselves or their fathers or grandfathers. But those were Lithuanians coming together from all military districts of freedom-fighting Lithuania to a secret gathering of their highest leadership. No one of them survived in the end. What survived was immortal spirit of homeland‘s soldiers and countless folk songs about them, as well as one exceptional document. In a poor forest shelter they prepared and drafted the interim Constitution for Lithuania of the future, the state to be restored after the enemy was pushed out. When? Maybe in several years or in decades, but they were believers and had a vision. Thus signatures were laid down as a solemn oath to die for that future Lithuania. Please, listen to two songs of that partisan folklore.
And now allow me to quote a few paragraphs from that remarkable Declaration of 16 February 1949. We treat it now as a provisional Constitution drafted by the only legitimate state power in the then Lithuania, and on 12 January 1999 we made it a Law of the Republic of Lithuania. Unfortunately, we did not yet have that Declaration discovered when we were drafting in 1990 the Interim Constitution of the restored Lithuania.
“The State system of Lithuania shall be that of a democratic republic.
The sovereign authority of Lithuania shall belong to the nation.
The governing of Lithuania shall be exercised by a Seimas elected through free, democratic, general, equal elections by secret ballot and an appointed Government.
The restored State of Lithuania shall guarantee equal rights for all of Lithuania’s citizens who have not committed any crimes against Lithuanian national interests. The Communist Party, as dictatorial and in essence contradictory to the principal aspiration of the Lithuanian nation and the cornerstone of the Constitution, which is Lithuania’s independence, shall be deemed against the law.
Persons who have betrayed their Homeland during the Bolshevik or German occupation, by collaborating with the enemy, having by their actions or influence contributed to harm against the struggle for national liberation and have been stained by treason or blood, shall be liable before the Court of Lithuania.
The Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement, in close union with the struggling nation, invites all Lithuanians of good will, residing within the Homeland and outside its boundaries, to forget the differences in their views and to join in the active task of national liberation.”
The united force of Lithuania’s political and armed resistance had a name Lithuanian Freedom Struggle Movement – Lietuvos Laisves Kovos Sajudis.
I am sure you recognise the last word Sajudis. That word was adopted once again by the latest movement of our liberation born 20 years ago. This anniversary we celebrate now here in Helsinki and everywhere Lithuanians and friends of Lithuania may gather.
Why? The politics of Lithuania 20 years ago and later was defined and determined by Sajudis. Not only for the first four years 1988–1992, but for much longer as the national choices of Sajudis remained irreversible.
Accordingly, the Sajudis' choices of 1988-1990 have made an international impact and contribution, as well. The 10th anniversary of restored independence of Lithuania was praised in 2000 by such definitions along with Concurrent Resolution of the Congress of USA: it "congratulates Lithuania on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the reestablishment of its independence and the leading role it played in the disintegration of the former Soviet Union".
Of course, we were not alone those 20 years ago.
When the times of change called “perestroika” came, numerous emerging and maturing groups, clubs and organisations appeared with the concept of “glasnost” to speak openly and loudly everything that was on your heart. Most turbulent news came from Estonia: they already had a unified popular front “Rahvarinne” for common actions, and the Latvians supposedly were ready to establish their own “Tautas fronte”.
We in Lithuania went on to build our mass-movement “Sajudis”, too. A hope for a better future and the feeling of historical chance was rising everywhere in the Baltics.
Contacts and co-operation, exchange of experiences and consultations were a natural thing. No philosophy on solidarity was needed. Our common political actions came in a natural way as well. One of the greatest visual and symbolic significance was the Baltic Way. Creation, invention, politics of culture and culture of politics were always present. The Singing Revolution appeared as an early anticipation of Rose and Orange Revolutions. Based on tradition of national song festivals it exploded as the most beautiful manifestation of human solidarity and collective being in culture: we sing – we are! We are alive and wish to be!
In such ways, together with Popular Fronts of Estonia and Latvia, we elaborated a program of peaceful political liberation of our nations from Soviet captivity, consulted each other about the tactics and joined efforts in action.
I would like now to refer to some peculiarities of our Lithuania Sajudis which was established on 3 June 1988. Six months later I became its Chairman and am now able to provide you with my evidence.
In the same year of 1988, on the Black Ribbon Day commemorating the infamous Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact or Hitler-Stalin conspiracy in 1939 against free nations of Europe we called for and gathered in Vilnius a huge national manifestation of about 250-300 thousand participants.
Speeches and songs, mourning for the victims and strong demands to Soviet authorities were voiced. On behalf of that meeting I prepared Sajudis’s letter to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It contained the following requests:
"to announce the USSR-Germany treaty of 23 August 1939 with secret protocols and amendments, all related correspondence and maps;
to distance from it at the state level and give it political valuation of today;
not to avoid moral valuation while condemning at the same time the former speculative efforts to justify this treaty;
to establish in law the strongest responsibility for any destruction of similar archival materials and put limits for terms of their secrecy."
Mr. Gorbachev did not respond, of course, and the last request of Sajudis on free access to Soviet archives was left unfulfilled until now.
To compare with that event of 1988, when for the first time in the Soviet block the secret protocols of Stalin and Hitler were announced and condemned, a year later a Black Ribbon Day was commemorated with the world’s greatest manifestation “Baltic Way” as a live chain of over 2,000,000 participants from Vilnius to Tallinn joining their hands in sign of Lithuanian-Latvian-Estonian solidarity in their demand for national freedom.
Progress was rapid, indeed.
Baltic Assembly of the three movements was held in Tallinn on 13-14 May 1989. Among many important resolutions voted on there was only one agreed upon and signed exclusively by the leadership: Edgar Savisaar, Dainis Ivans, Vytautas Landsbergis. It contained insight and provision for yet distant future still in May 14, 1989, as: creation of common Baltic market; creation of common Baltic system of mutual economic assistance and credit; refraining from economic confrontation on national level; creation of common Baltic system of information. The Assembly happened just after successful elections to the Congress of People’s Deputies in Moscow, and we also worked there in advance on the principles to be fought for together in May-June 1989. Ten days after the Baltic Assembly passed its resolutions we already had our "deputies'" drafts for the Congress and could present them in Moscow.
Some examples are: a statement on sovereign rights or Soviet republics to decide vital questions at home in/for full validity, and veto them, if appear wrong, in Moscow. We requested to accept that principle in rules and procedures of the Congress and warned that otherwise we will boycott the relevant sittings of the Congress. Also there was an amendment to Constitution of the USSR proposed by Lithuanians and then by the entire Baltic Club: "The law of USSR has a power in the territory of the Union's Republics after approval and registration of it by the Supreme Council of a Republic". We supposed that colleagues from the Caucasus and Central Asia should support it. Also there was an appeal to the Congress on the situation in the Soviet Army: to ban the use of army against civil population; to elaborate during 1989 the concept of building of national (Republican) formations; to free all conscripted students and draft a law on professional army, etc. You see, we once again looked far into the future.
A common victory of great importance was adoption of the Resolution of the Congress condemning Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as null and void from the very conclusion because it presented unlawfulness and violation of international treaties, inter alia, of our Peace Treaties with Russia of 1920.
Then soon came the spring of 1990. We won national parliamentary elections, and Lithuania proclaimed restoration of national independence on full scale plus immediately extending hand to the Kremlin for reconciliation and neighbourly cooperation. The response was: never! Two other sisters chose a less radical way. They announced by parliamentary vote the restored independence not just now but after a transition period as a way to that goal.
We did not complain being left alone with our bridges burned down, nevertheless, the situation gave the Soviets better chances to split us and cope with Lithuania separately. It would be bad also for our neighbours, therefore, a remedy for such ambiguity of legal statuses was found.
The pre-war Baltic Concord treaty of 1934 was renewed by the Council of the Baltic States which appeared established at the meeting of our leaderships in Tallinn on 12 May 1990 by the initiative of Arnold Rüütel. This indirect way the three countries affirmed treating themselves as independent states in historical continuity. The Council worked since then regularly coordinating common policies both eastwards and westwards as a body of three states of the same status.
Consolidation of the Three became reality, and then formula 3+1, in Tallinn on 13 January 1991, after the Soviet massacre in Vilnius, presented us in a common democracy front with the new Russia of Boris Yeltsin. Still before the bloody January 1991, we held an extraordinary sitting of three Baltic parliaments in Vilnius deciding firmly: never to join any "new" Soviet Union (papers for it have already been drafted and advertised), as we are not a part of the present one.
After the full international recognition of our restored statehood, which was crowned by the accession of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the United Nations on 17 September 1991, the main task were to secure our states for building democracy and free market economy. It became a story of national reforms and political manoeuvring at international level as Russia constantly opposed untruly arguing for having the right to press about "post-Soviet" territory. We undertook a lot of efforts in Lithuania denouncing and protesting everywhere that false title of "post-Soviet republic". The reminder that we were not a constituent part of any "Union", but that we were an occupied and annexed European country, was consistently repeated. Now it is over. What stays on the table, is "Law on Compensation of Damage Resulting from the Occupation by the USSR", adopted in 2000.
The situation of today contains two main achievements. Three Baltic sisters are in NATO from 2004. This is the first achievement. A greater sense of security, but not absolute. Recent attacks against Estonia proved - what was our realistic provision – that NATO in a similar case would not be coming within hours as defender and liberator. At the same time any aggression may leave us only an hour’s time. Therefore, we – three sisters - should in advance be co-operatively ready to resist in any joint anti-subversive and anti-invasion territorial defence operation. Remember the Winter War.
Three Baltic sisters are together in the European Union from 2004, too. What we are there? Maybe, a headache for those richer and wiser? Maybe, good experts in real and not illusionist European Ostpolitik? Both options are related again with our Baltic past and Russia of today. Exactly nowadays Lithuania helps the EU to approach negotiations with Russia seriously.
In its recent neo-expansionist version Russia still looks at us angrily as “lost” territories. The sense of something lost (“poteriannaja Pribaltika”) means that it should be regained, preferably. New forms of economic expansion together with the efforts to acquire banks, communication, industrial and real estate assets are elaborated in corresponding strategic workshops. New methods of information- and cyber-war are elaborated, as well as exercised now for an eventual use instead of tanks with red stars. Those latter are still alive also in some 40 kilometres from the Lithuanian capital or at Narva. Therefore, we, three Baltic nations, still have the same common and unifying problem.
Nevertheless, it would be too narrow to concentrate on our local worries alone.
Russia has the same problem with itself and with mentality of its political elite. Now they hate Georgia. Several generations or more will have to pass before it will change. Meanwhile, the times are dangerous on the crossroads between the eventual Russian smuta and paralysing dictatorship which in its turn suffers from the temptation to attack anybody in the neighbourhood. Explosive psychological complexes are reflected in futurology dreams of political thinkers near to the Kremlin. "There are no special doubts that after America is weakened and loosing significantly its influence over the rest of the world, Europe, would it be Union or not, will not be able to preserve the sovereignty. Only God knows, if will it appear in a Russia's zone of influence... One what is clear, that the dreams about European Union as one of future main players at the world stage are mere gimmicks despite being broadly distributed". (From the book "The Third Empire. Russia as it must be", Moscow, 2007). Well, such predictions are not mere gimmicks. At the same time the Chinese problem – mass replacement of its population into Russia’s Far East – can make vulnerable Russia even desperately unpredictable.
Therefore, entire Europe has the same and even more problems with Russia. What more? Energy dependence will cause increasing losses in democratic mentality, dignity and identity. With such losses versus conformity with evil or disgracefulness of primitive pragmatism, Europe will become less and less prepared to oppose its vital challenges. By sacrifying itself on the altars of consumerism, which flourishes so beautifully in the fading mythology of welfare state, Europe goes into decline and disappearance, at least in its previous form: what it was once, Europe of values? While Europeans are loosing the sense of love and long-term vitality and do not want to work and enjoy raising children, while culture of death becomes prevailing one, all this goes on as a calm and slow suicide.
We do belong there too now, and what value of our sad legacy may we bring? Well, we from the East and North can remind Europeans the Arctic, at least.
A sister of destiny wrote about the island Trofimovsk in Lena mouth:
"The Laptev Sea. We felt her icy breath /.../ Winter was approaching fast. / And we stayed behind in a desolate island with no roof over our heads, without warm clothing or food, without any preparation for the arctic winter. / A few hundred Finns were brought in about the same time from the Leningrad region. They were deported because of their national origin, even though their parents and ancestors had lived there for generations. Death cut them down first."
"A group of young people, Lithuanians and Finns, fifteen in all, tried to escape from Trofimovsk to the Evenks. They all perished en route; they became lost in a blizzard and froze to death."
"Tons of frozen fish were stored in Bobrovsk. All Lithuanian and Finnish deportees in Trofimovsk could have been saved from starvation. But the guards would rather have the fish rot than give it to the people. In the summer of 1943 the fish were dumped into the Laptev Sea."
"When parents died, children were taken to a separate barrack in this vast ice grave. The conditions were as horrendous, and the death rate even higher. Starving children scratched the ice from the windows with their little hands and ate it. They died one after another. Sacks filled with little bodies – skeletons – were often found outside. Sack was unknown, for they would place the unopened bags on the hill of other bodies. / Two Finnish boys, a twelve and thirteen year old, hung themselves. Thirteen year old Juzë Lukminaitë from Këdainiai had witnessed it. She had been placed in the orphan's barrack after the death of her parents and two older brothers. Little Juzë was always in tears for she missed them, especially her sixteen year old brother. He had died with an outstretched scrawny little hand waiting for the promised piece of bread. A small piece was later placed in his palm after he was no longer alive."
"In February of 1943 all of us expected to die. The death rate reached its height. Unbearable cold, unceasing storms, especially severe just before dawn, lasted for a long period of time. / The barracks were not heated; the dying suffered frostbite on their arms and legs. /.../ The end was near."
"The administration decided to do something about the graveyard in April. Prisoners from Stolby were brought in because there was nobody strong enough in Trofimovsk to do the work. Each day before work they were given a ration of alcohol, and thus worked half drunk. They chopped out a huge pit in the permafrost, which then became a brotherly grave for all the victims of Trofimovsk, for Lithuanians as well as Finns."
These were the excerpts from the memoires of Dalia Grinkevičiűtë, the then teenager survivor of Trofimovsk hell.
You see, how destiny gets us back once again to the old family of four Baltic nations. We are still able to sit down at the fire, in no hurry, and talk a little about what we know, when others do not.
There were the times, 20 or 15 years ago, when prosperous and tired Europeans looked with some hope at us re-emerging from the ashes. Oh, those three Baltics, they still believe in life? In justice and dignity? Are they indeed ready for sacrifices?
The late King Baudouin II of Belgium, with whom I had a long private conversation in 1992, voiced his concern about the present times and last chance that maybe those from beyond the former Iron Curtain might yet bring a spirit of moral rebirth for Western and all Europe. Unbelievable? For such an inspiring effort we should first cope with our own viruses of Communist materialism and "modern" egotism, and synchronically or secondly concentrate on the values of traditional, natural humanism which is still alive in the memory of our nations. To find such ways towards eventually new European philosophy of life could be a task indeed worth living and building.
Why not together with Suomi?
Presentation at Helsinki University on 23 May 2008