Speech delivered by Rolandas Paksas
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished members of the Seimas,
Dear Guests of Vilnius,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is the at the discretion of each of us, gathered and met here so abundantly and beautifully, to chose the way of understanding and commemorating the essence and the meaning of the 16th of February. Certainly, this is great anniversary, deserving ceremony, the most natural joy, amusement. These days, this morning we have already heard and we will still hear the evaluation of the statehood of Lithuania. I believe, the present is of utmost importance as well, it is important what we look like with respect to the day worthy of commemoration. History consists not only of written sources, not only of wise scientific and memoir books. History is a mirror in which one, if only is courageous enough to be frank, can discern oneself. If only we have strength, if only we find internal responsibility to look into our own souls, if we are not dissatisfied that the mirror is, to some extent distorting, or covered by the dust of the century, what makes the picture milder, we will find ways to change and improve ourselves as well as the entire world around us.
I believe that today many of us have already opened or will open later old family albums, lay about and turn over family photographs in search of the smell of the old times, and, at the same time, of ourselves, trying to guess what is the difference between our grandparents, great grandparents who had to shoulder a burden not lighter than we have to now. And faces of the past, known and unknown to us, though each of them so close to us will unveil in front of us. How much hope and delicacy, how much faith and, at the same time, premonition can be felt in them. We are awaited by the great challenges, by the test whether we are worthy of the glorious past of our nation, whether we are strong enough to experience bliss and honour by carrying the cross destined to us by the God.
It is not true that one generation is better than another, and the current one, supposedly, is utterly awful, no good at all. Probably each generation has a similar number of scoundrels and righteous, romanticists and cynics. However, time sets its own laws and allows either cynics or romanticists to stand out. Yes, even today, this minute each of us is taking the most significant exam testing if we are really ourselves, if we deserve our freedom with its challenges, if we believe that our life is meaningful not in our private lives, but in our existence. Do we love our work, our duty in life, our mission in this world rather than ourselves? Prices of things are growing and declining. Their changes engender long, loud discussions. But it is rarely that we stop and think about the value of the feelings. Price and value are different concepts. Price is just a thing, value is a human.
I would like to express my highest love to the representatives of the honourable senior generation that are here today. Your devotion and tenacity surprises me, your knowledge teaches me, and I ask you to forgive us for not always being sufficiently attentive, considerate, helpful. Please, believe me, my forty - year -old generation still senses a special link with you. We seem to hold a thread of time in our hands, almost impalpable, invisible, though so strong, and therefore so important. One of the ways of perceiving the meaning of our life, living in this state, in this city is the following: hurry to take over from the elderly their way and source of life, hurry to experience that by yourself, hurry to share that with the younger than you. In that case, the time we are destined to live will not seem a cruel executioner depriving us of the dear minutes of life. When we give others, we gain ourselves. And the time will be made enjoyable by the light shining from the moments experienced by us.
It is a great honour and yet greater responsibility for me, the mayor of Vilnius, to observe and evaluate the hectic life of the heart of Lithuania - the capital on this momentous day of the state. Without any doubt, Vilnius is a city which in itself, in its past is a source of strength, patience, faith. Naive and ridiculous seem the discussions, when only one gets deeper into them, on whether we are Europeans, whether we are sufficiently civilised in the eyes of the world, whether we will be blessed by the recognition of the great world and continental communities. It is much more important than the greatest communities, no matter how perfect they are, how generous they seem, it is much more important that we all would become a true community, or maybe even a family, with respect to each other, that we all would perceive our own home, yard, street, our everyday path as the most important, the most fatal, presented and destined by the Almighty. … this is not… Small streets, tiny towns, modest, unnoticeable people gain magnitude by their unadvertisable, maybe even unnoticeable, but significant deeds.
Each time I start thinking about the identity of Vilnius, my thoughts linger on the tiny St Mykolas church in the very centre of the old Vilnius - so modest and not distinct. This century all kinds of occupants attempted to rule us, residents of Vilnius, in a desire to thwart our hope, to make us believe in alien truths, while the truth and the hope were always living there, in that little church, in its cosy churchyard. People, friendly disposed to each other, used to gather here, and it never came to the mind that they were too few or too many. The small space accommodated everybody with great ideas, true values. During all this variable, multilingual, many-sided twentieth century the church spread not only the Lithuanian language, prayer, but also the Lithuanian spirit. It is here that we used to wish, and still wish, each other peace, though in our souls we used to feel an extreme uneasiness. Love your neighbour as much as you love yourself - the love of Homeland can be defined in such a way as well.
Treasures are hidden in the libraries, museums, archives of Vilnius. They are at an arm's length, they are detectable, no special effort is needed for that. Only a deep inner necessity to know, as much as possible, about what and how took place a hundred, eighty or fifty years ago is needed. The privileged are those who know, who feel. Without knowledge, without feelings we would have neither the 16 February or the 11th of March.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, each of us is entitled to have our own understanding, our own description of the essence of the honourable day. Here we could recall the situation, which now reminds an anecdote, when people born on the 16th of February were forced to celebrate their birthday with their passports in their hands. However, far from anecdote is the destiny of those people who had the courage to remind us of that day in various ways, either with a tricolour or, at least, with a national woven sash.
Buildings of the early century remain, things remain, books and pictures remain, photographs remain. Things are more weighty than people, than human feelings.
We feel what we are, what challenge we are posed by the present time. A crumb of gold, a teaspoon of fattier food divides Lithuania into believers, dreamers, workers and those who need everything now, here and in great quantities. After losing hope and faith, let us turn towards the Rasai cemetery , without waiting for a festive day, nice weather, public events or meetings, without counting how many pairs of eyes see us there. History will tell us that it is always possible to return things that seem to be lost for ever, that the guardian angel will always give strength to the nation, the city or person, if only he knows what that straight is needed for.
Finally, I would only like to remind you of the most meaningful and beautiful symbols of Lithuania's liberation, identity, preservation in the latter centuries. They are 'Auğra' (the dawn) and 'Varpas' (the bell). Each morning when the light is pushing out the darkness, we experience a particular feeling. The dawn, both in the symbolic and direct sense, becomes the source of inspiration for the whole day. Similarly, the Sunday bell, reminding each of us, who have come to this Earth, of the temporariness and significance of our existence. Let these symbols - the bell and the dawn - never abandon either Lithuania or its neighbour states. Let the future generations see and hear them as well. (Applause).