VILNIUS — In light of the twentieth anniversary of Lithuania’s independence from the U.S.S.R. Thursday, Baltic Reports asked President Dalia Grybauskaitė to reflect on what the anniversary meant to her.

Although she spent much of her career in the past 20 years in Brussels working in the European Commission, Grybauskaitė said she remembers well the exciting and frightening year when Lithuania struggled to break free from the communist behemoth, the first republic to do so. In her mid-thirties at the time, Grybauskaitė had recently [private_supervisor]successfully defended her thesis at the Moscow Academy of Public Sciences and was working as a lecturer on political economy and the world history of money at the Vilnius High Party School.

Baltic Reports: Where were you and what were you doing when independence was re-declared 20 years ago?

President Dalia Grybauskaitė: Twenty years ago, it was a very interesting and amazing time. Political developments were taking place very fast. One event was following another. On February 24, 1990, the first democratic elections were held and on March 11 the newly elected Supreme Council convened for its statutory sitting.

It was late evening, and everybody in Lithuania was waiting for the results of the meeting. Together with the entire nation that night I was watching live TV broadcast from the Supreme Council. The idea of independence was in our hearts, work and everyday life.

The moment independence was proclaimed and the old Soviet emblem in the Plenary Hall of the parliament building was covered with the Lithuanian national flag was the moment when all of us were united, happy and determined to go forward and make the independent state of Lithuania true and real.

BR: What do those events mean in today’s context? Are young people sufficiently aware of what happened?

Grybauskaitė: There would not be “today” if 20 years ago there had not been the Act of Independence. Breaking away from the U.S.S.R. and the  repressive Soviet system was the foundation stone of the achievements we have today. Lithuania is a free and democratic state, a fully fledged member of the European Union and NATO.

The biggest value we received with independence was the opportunity to build and develop our state by ourselves — a state that we want and can create. We wanted to have a democratic, European, governed by the rule of law, well educated, modern, and secure nation. In 20 years, we laid down the grounds for the future Lithuania on these values.

Twenty years on we have freedom and welfare, which we created ourselves. Nothing was imposed upon us by enemies or by force. Today we have a state that we have built and that we deserve to have. If we wish to live in a better Lithuania, we will have to work better. Everything is in our own hands.

Young people are aware of the events that took place 20 years ago. The new generation was raised up and educated in a free and democratic Lithuania. Young people grew up with the values that were important to their parents and with the knowledge that they are free to choose. The young generation is ambitious, inventive, courageous, and free. The change in mentality is an important achievement.

Freedom is the greatest gift an individual can get. Twenty years ago, parents stood up to change the future for their children. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]successfully defended her thesis at the Moscow Academy of Public Sciences and was working as a lecturer on political economy and the world history of money at the Vilnius High Party School.

Baltic Reports: Where were you and what were you doing when independence was re-declared 20 years ago?

President Dalia Grybauskaitė: Twenty years ago, it was a very interesting and amazing time. Political developments were taking place very fast. One event was following another. On February 24, 1990, the first democratic elections were held and on March 11 the newly elected Supreme Council convened for its statutory sitting.

It was late evening, and everybody in Lithuania was waiting for the results of the meeting. Together with the entire nation that night I was watching live TV broadcast from the Supreme Council. The idea of independence was in our hearts, work and everyday life.

The moment independence was proclaimed and the old Soviet emblem in the Plenary Hall of the parliament building was covered with the Lithuanian national flag was the moment when all of us were united, happy and determined to go forward and make the independent state of Lithuania true and real.

BR: What do those events mean in today’s context? Are young people sufficiently aware of what happened?

Grybauskaitė: There would not be “today” if 20 years ago there had not been the Act of Independence. Breaking away from the U.S.S.R. and the repressive Soviet system was the foundation stone of the achievements we have today. Lithuania is a free and democratic state, a fully fledged member of the European Union and NATO.

The biggest value we received with independence was the opportunity to build and develop our state by ourselves — a state that we want and can create. We wanted to have a democratic, European, governed by the rule of law, well educated, modern, and secure nation. In 20 years, we laid down the grounds for the future Lithuania on these values.

Twenty years on we have freedom and welfare, which we created ourselves. Nothing was imposed upon us by enemies or by force. Today we have a state that we have built and that we deserve to have. If we wish to live in a better Lithuania, we will have to work better. Everything is in our own hands.

Young people are aware of the events that took place 20 years ago. The new generation was raised up and educated in a free and democratic Lithuania. Young people grew up with the values that were important to their parents and with the knowledge that they are free to choose. The young generation is ambitious, inventive, courageous, and free. The change in mentality is an important achievement.

Freedom is the greatest gift an individual can get. Twenty years ago, parents stood up to change the future for their children. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]successfully defended her thesis at the Moscow Academy of Public Sciences and was working as a lecturer on political economy and the world history of money at the Vilnius High Party School.

Baltic Reports: Where were you and what were you doing when independence was re-declared 20 years ago?

President Dalia Grybauskaitė: Twenty years ago, it was a very interesting and amazing time. Political developments were taking place very fast. One event was following another. On February 24, 1990, the first democratic elections were held and on March 11 the newly elected Supreme Council convened for its statutory sitting.

It was late evening, and everybody in Lithuania was waiting for the results of the meeting. Together with the entire nation that night I was watching live TV broadcast from the Supreme Council. The idea of independence was in our hearts, work and everyday life.

The moment independence was proclaimed and the old Soviet emblem in the Plenary Hall of the parliament building was covered with the Lithuanian national flag was the moment when all of us were united, happy and determined to go forward and make the independent state of Lithuania true and real.

BR: What do those events mean in today’s context? Are young people sufficiently aware of what happened?

Grybauskaitė: There would not be “today” if 20 years ago there had not been the Act of Independence. Breaking away from the U.S.S.R. and the repressive Soviet system was the foundation stone of the achievements we have today. Lithuania is a free and democratic state, a fully fledged member of the European Union and NATO.

The biggest value we received with independence was the opportunity to build and develop our state by ourselves — a state that we want and can create. We wanted to have a democratic, European, governed by the rule of law, well educated, modern, and secure nation. In 20 years, we laid down the grounds for the future Lithuania on these values.

Twenty years on we have freedom and welfare, which we created ourselves. Nothing was imposed upon us by enemies or by force. Today we have a state that we have built and that we deserve to have. If we wish to live in a better Lithuania, we will have to work better. Everything is in our own hands.

Young people are aware of the events that took place 20 years ago. The new generation was raised up and educated in a free and democratic Lithuania. Young people grew up with the values that were important to their parents and with the knowledge that they are free to choose. The young generation is ambitious, inventive, courageous, and free. The change in mentality is an important achievement.

Freedom is the greatest gift an individual can get. Twenty years ago, parents stood up to change the future for their children. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]successfully defended her thesis at the Moscow Academy of Public Sciences and was working as a lecturer on political economy and the world history of money at the Vilnius High Party School.

Baltic Reports: Where were you and what were you doing when independence was re-declared 20 years ago?

President Dalia Grybauskaitė: Twenty years ago, it was a very interesting and amazing time. Political developments were taking place very fast. One event was following another. On February 24, 1990, the first democratic elections were held and on March 11 the newly elected Supreme Council convened for its statutory sitting.

It was late evening, and everybody in Lithuania was waiting for the results of the meeting. Together with the entire nation that night I was watching live TV broadcast from the Supreme Council. The idea of independence was in our hearts, work and everyday life.

The moment independence was proclaimed and the old Soviet emblem in the Plenary Hall of the parliament building was covered with the Lithuanian national flag was the moment when all of us were united, happy and determined to go forward and make the independent state of Lithuania true and real.

BR: What do those events mean in today’s context? Are young people sufficiently aware of what happened?

Grybauskaitė: There would not be “today” if 20 years ago there had not been the Act of Independence. Breaking away from the U.S.S.R. and the repressive Soviet system was the foundation stone of the achievements we have today. Lithuania is a free and democratic state, a fully fledged member of the European Union and NATO.

The biggest value we received with independence was the opportunity to build and develop our state by ourselves — a state that we want and can create. We wanted to have a democratic, European, governed by the rule of law, well educated, modern, and secure nation. In 20 years, we laid down the grounds for the future Lithuania on these values.

Twenty years on we have freedom and welfare, which we created ourselves. Nothing was imposed upon us by enemies or by force. Today we have a state that we have built and that we deserve to have. If we wish to live in a better Lithuania, we will have to work better. Everything is in our own hands.

Young people are aware of the events that took place 20 years ago. The new generation was raised up and educated in a free and democratic Lithuania. Young people grew up with the values that were important to their parents and with the knowledge that they are free to choose. The young generation is ambitious, inventive, courageous, and free. The change in mentality is an important achievement.

Freedom is the greatest gift an individual can get. Twenty years ago, parents stood up to change the future for their children. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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