President Valdas Adamkus has received the Seimas award – the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star

Press release, 17 May 2022

 

President Valdas Adamkus has received the Seimas award – the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star at the Seimas sitting. Upon starting the award ceremony, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Speaker of the Seimas, reminded the audience of the decision of the Seimas to award President Valdas Adamkus and Senator Richard Joseph Durbin with the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star, an award named after the second President of Lithuania. ‘In the context of the ongoing war against democracy and Western values, the choice of the awardees is certainly no coincidence. The invasion in Ukraine has clearly shown that there can be no neutrality in this war and that respect and appreciation goes to those who have consistently made the maximum effort to get Lithuania out of the grey zone as soon as possible and integrate it into the most important Western organisations, including NATO and the European Union, to the best possible degree,’ the Speaker of the Seimas said.

According to Ms Čmilytė-Nielsen, President Valdas Adamkus played an outstanding role in Lithuania’s integration into the Western world. ‘Apart from the significant gains achieved by President Valdas Adamkus in the negotiations on Euro-Atlantic integration, it is equally crucial, in my opinion, that by leading by his own example coupled with personal charm and intellectual acumen, President Valdas Adamkus has been and continues to be a true embodiment of Western political culture,’ said the Speaker of the Seimas.

 

Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic, noted that the political life of Mr Adamkus was an incarnation of high ethical standards. ‘First and foremost, you have a great sense of empathy and understanding, you are capable of genuine concern and have a deep sense of justice. This puts you leagues above those who simply go about the business of taking care of the state affairs,’ Nausėda said in his address to President Adamkus. ‘I look forward for Lithuania to benefit from your involvement and your vigour in social life for decades to come, because your social commitment is truly an example to us all.’

 

At the ceremony, Viktoras Pranckietis, the initiator of the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star Award, highlighted the role of Mr Adamkus as the enabler of a host of events in the country. ‘The awardees, President Adamkus and Senator Durbin, are an undeniable example of high moral and ethical standards. I thank the Seimas for its unanimous support for granting the award to these nominees. I am privileged to be able to congratulate President Adamkus today,’ Mr Pranckietis said. He went on to remind the audience that the award had been established to honour not only the awardees, but also the personality of Aleksandras Stulginskis.

 

Antanas Vinkus, Chair of the Commission for Awarding the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star, welcomed the privilege of having such a statesman. He highlighted that the Lithuanian nation had enjoyed fthe leadership of President Adamkus or an entire decade and had the privilege of benefiting from his high political and spiritual standards and open-mindedness. ‘Throughout your tenure, you led by example in state administration by epitomizing excellent manners and capacity of fostering warm relationships and compassion. You continue to serve as an example for our children and grandchildren,’ said Mr Vinkus, referring to the merits of President Adamkus.

 

President Adamkus, winner of the award, said he was exceptionally honoured and deeply moved by the decision to award him and U.S. Senator Richard Durbin with the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star. ‘Thank you for the honourable award which I consider to be one of the most important ones in my lifetime,’ he said.

 

‘The award is conferred for fostering the parliamentary memory, democracy and statehood. If my endeavours had, in the eyes of today’s citizens, contributed to those goals, then we are like-minded people. Throughout my conscious life, starting from my participation in the anti-Nazi resistance movement in my teens, to today’s meetings with the people of Lithuania and the world, I have done my best to serve my country. Throughout my life, I have put every effort for Lithuania to be a free, democratic and European nation,’ President Adamkus said while accepting the Seimas Award.

 

In the words of Mr Adamkus, similar expectations accompanied the work of Aleksandras Stulginskis as the Speaker of the Constituent Seimas. ‘The establishment of the independent Lithuania on 16 February 1918 sent a resounding message to the world that our nation was alive, that we were striving for statehood and that we would never give up on it. Meanwhile, in 1920, the Constituent Seimas did everything for the word to become flesh, in the words of the Holy Scripture. The words concerning Lithuania’s freedom recorded in the Declaration of Independence became flesh, transforming the country into the Republic of Lithuania – a free parliamentary democracy. More than a hundred years have passed since that day, but this tradition of parliamentarianism has not lost its value today. Quite the contrary, as today’s events have demonstrated, freedom, democracy, and genuine parliamentarianism remain the core of a dignified society,’ said President Adamkus.

 

‘Being honoured by the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star, I sincerely hope that Lithuania remains the same at all times as it is today by contributing to the defence of freedom and truth, as it continues to say to the Ukrainians and the people of the world, ‘For your freedom and ours’, Mr Adamkus said in his speech.

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

 

The Seimas award – the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star – was established by the Seimas on the occasion of the Centenary of the Constituent Seimas and the Republic of Lithuania and was designed to honour the prominent personality of Aleksandras Stulginskis. The award is conferred to Lithuanian and foreign natural and legal persons for their achievements and contribution towards fostering parliamentary democracy and statehood.

 

On 29 March 2022, the Seimas decided to award President Valdas Adamkus and US Senator Richard Joseph Durbin with the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star Award. They were the first winners of the award. Senator Durbin will receive the award in person at a later date.

 

Rimas Rudaitis, Adviser, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]