Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Lithuanian leaders reflect on 20 years of independence
Vilnius - Twenty years since Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to break free from the Soviet Union, its present-day leaders have been remembering March 11, 1990, and how it changed the course of history. The current president and prime minister were amazed at the speed and scope of the changes.
President Dalia Grybauskaite became the first ever female leader of Lithuania in 2009. Like many of her fellow Lithuanians 20 years ago, she spent hours watching the television for the latest developments, she said.
First came democratic elections for a new legislature, on February 24, 1990, then came the legislature's first session, on March 11 of that year, she recalled.
"The moment independence was proclaimed and the old Soviet emblem ... 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," she said.
"Breaking away from the USSR and the Soviet repressive system was the foundation stone of the achievements we have today," she said. The change in status put Lithuanians back in charge of their own destiny for the first time since 1940, she added.
"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. Everything is in our own hands," she said.
But it has not always been plain sailing for independent Lithuania. Relations with Russia remain prickly, and the country was harder-hit than most by the recent global economic recession.
The disproportionate influence of wealthy oligarchs in the country's political system is another constant source of discontent.
Current Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius was voted in to tackle Lithuania's economic troubles in 2008. Back in 1990 he was an active member of the reforming Sajudis movement that led the push for independence.
Like Grybauskaite, he remains impressed by how fast things changed.
"Looking back at those days, I have to admit the events were unravelling at breakneck speed. The reform movement was backed up by the whole nation, and the key goal was clear from the very outset: restoration of Lithuanian independence.
"Initially, we veiled our real plans by saying that we only cared about economic and environmental issues. It was the right tactic to adopt, and it was a success," he said.
But the acid test of Lithuania's independence came in January 1991 when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sent tanks and special forces troops into Vilnius to crush opposition. Fourteen people were killed and hundreds injured in a vicious battle for control of Vilnius' TV tower.
Although he felt fear that day, it left no lasting effect, Kubilius said, and events turned out differently from how Moscow had planned.
"We were an unshakable force to be reckoned with and felt that we were not alone. The unity of nation had overcome fear - I always repeat these words by bowing my head in memory of those brave patriots who sacrificed their lives for the sake of motherland," Kubilius said.
Press Service of the President
