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Folk Dancing Dreams

When I return from Lithuania, I want to start my story with, once upon a time.... I ask myself why, and a tumble of impressions comes to mind. I always feel a spiritual beauty. The country has held on to its pagan roots and love of nature. There are many wayside carvings and shrines along the country roads. Some of these spiritual origins have been translated into the Christian religion with the profusion of churches and the Hill of Crosses. The people are beautiful and gentle. I always feel that I am home.

My trip with the dance group Žilvinas, to take part in the international festival, was a privilege. The dances had taken place in the [former] Soviet Union, but now we were invited as part of the group of Lithuanians from all over the world. We came from Canada, United States, Europe, and South America; descendants of the previous generations who fled from political and economical turmoil.

The Festival lasted four days and the theme was based on the holiness of bread. The dances were interpretations of planting, growing, and harvesting. We practiced for months before we left, and several days with all the other Lithuanians for the final pageant.

It was an awesome feeling to enter the stadium with thousands of other dancers. Each group was noted by name. I felt that I was part of an historical event. Our group dances centered on the harvest. We carried sheaves of grain across the field and danced celebrating the harvest. When the program was finished, all the participating dancers poured into the stadium for the traditional ending, "Suktinis Polka". The young, the old, people from all nations, intertwined to dance. It was a euphoric ending!

I thought that I had enjoyed the very best… The next day we paraded through Vilnius, in our national costumes, with the other 10,000 dancers and singers. We were greeted with such enthusiasm and joy. Lithuanians broke out of the crowd to give us flowers and thank us for coming so far. Every corner we turned, we were cheered. It was so unexpected and overwhelming.

I cried thinking of my grandparents who left during czarist Russia and its harsh conditions. Just maybe they were watching?

I have linked back to the values of my family. They had a deep spiritual life, a sense of right and wrong, honesty, intimacy of relationships, and above all, love. Thinking of this and my experiences that summer, I feel blessed. 

Dear Lithuania...

Alexa Elena Kojelis Bertinelli, a 14 year-old from Arizona, is an avid young writer, poet, and one of the editors for her school newspaper. She has won several writing awards for her work. Alexa wrote the following poem after she arrived home from a trip to Lithuania. She and her family visited the Hill of Crosses in Šiauliai and learned of its unique and poignant history.

The Hill of Crosses

With fingers frail and thin but strong,
She laid to rest, the cross.
It was made with wood, tied with love,
And stood for him, her loss.

She walked away with backward step,
Careful not to lose sight,
Of the hill drowned with the crosses,
Our hope their only light.

As the night stretches into day,
The ground glistens with dew,
Millions of teardrops that soon fade,
The dark black sky turns blue.

On sun’s golden rays our fiend rides,
To turn our dreams to dust,
The crosses are all soon destroyed,
The tears make our hopes rust.

But come the night we meet again,
To create what was gone.
Cross upon cross; heart upon heart,
Our day begins to dawn.

Lithuania — Initiator of Freedom

During Pres. Valdas Adamkus’s address to the Seimas (Parliament) on March 11th, the President said that Lithuania had paved the way to freedom for all Central Europe, when it declared the restoration of its independence from the Soviet Union a decade ago.

“The March 11th Independence Restoration Act has become not only the symbol of the nation's vision and hopes, but also a document, which had been drawn up with almost mathematical precision and which had withstood the test of international law,” the Lithuanian president said, addressing the parliament on March 11th.

Adamkus said that political scientists would, in the future, evaluate the March 11th Act in terms of its importance in the country's history, its importance in increasing civic awareness, and its importance to 20th century European history.

According to the president, world historians should have conceded more than once that concepts initially born in the people's popular movement Sąjudis and later given legal status by the Reconstituent Seimas have played a decisive role in the events which had changed the entire Central Europe.

“As early as 1988 certain developments started which Moscow had described, not without annoyance, as a political trans-frontier virus — the ‘pribaltiyskaya zaraza’ (Baltic plague-sic),” Adamkus stated.

But the most significant achievement of the March 11th Act to date is, the president said, that “we cannot describe any of our neighboring states as hostile to us, we do not regard any of our fellow-citizens as different or less worthy, and therefore, less deserving to live a free and just life.”

“The first decade of freedom has clearly indicated that to give a meaning to freedom is as difficult as to win it,” Adamkus concluded in his address. He wished the Lithuanian people endurance and confidence in their own strength and prudence in using it. (BNS) u

March 10th Festive Seimas Session

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius called for recognizing Parliament Speaker Vytautas Landsbergis as the first head of state after the restoration of Lithuania's independence, as he addressed the Seimas (Parliament) festive session held on March 11th to mark the 10th anniversary of the March 11th Act.

“It would not do justice to forget those who undertook the responsibility of leadership at that time. The then Reconstituent Seimas was the nucleus of the state and its speaker was effectively in charge of the entire state,” Kubilius said.

“I think that today we should unequivocally concede that Vytautas Landsbergis was and is the first head of newly-restored state of Lithuania. Therefore, I propose to reinforce this by law in the near future, which would provide for customary state honor and privileges shown to former heads of state,” the prime minister added. This was followed by prolonged thunderous applause.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, signatories to the March 11th Independence Restoration Act Rimvydas Valatka and Algirdas Kumza; former freedom fighter Bronius Zabulis; freedom fighter after the war Ona Trakimienė; and co-worker of the state War Museum in Kaunas Vytautas Andziulis also addressed the Parliament.

The Chairman of Iceland's Alting, Halldor Blondal; the chairman of the Estonian Riigikogu, Toomas Savi; the chairman of the Latvian Saeima, Janis Straume; Marshal of the Polish Sejm, Maciej Plazinski; and foreign ambassadors to Lithuania also were present at this festive Seimas session. (BNS)

Lithuanian Parliament Starts its Last Full Session

The Lithuanian Parliament started its eighth session on March 9th, which Parliamentary Chancellor Jurgis Razma explained would be the last “full” session of this Parliament.

The Parliament's fall session will be shorter due to Parliamentary elections scheduled for the September-October 2000 period.

Commenting on the main remaining tasks of this Parliament, Razma told BNS that they could be conditionally divided into two groups: those “aimed at solving clearly seen problems” and those related with the basics of the country's law-and-order and law enforcement systems.

The Parliamentary chancellor said that the first group of laws includes bills on public transportation reductions, electricity, gas, Lithuanian railways, and the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear plant's first power unit. He said that the bills are related with the restructuring and the future of Lithuania's largest companies.

In Razma's words, the problems of industrialists and manufacturers should be solved with the bills on protection measures and compensatory customs, and the new wording of the Bankruptcy Law.

The official also said that the Parliament will also discuss and adopt bills necessary for law enforcement: the Law on Special Investigations Service, the new wording of the Operative Activities Law, the Police Activities Law, and a new Criminal Code. It will also continue the discussion of several volumes of the new Civil Code.

Many laws planned for the spring session are related to Lithuania's commitments to coordinate its legal basis with the Acquis Communitaire. (BNS) u

Russia Urged to Start Dialogue with Chechnya

Lithuania joined the statement expressing concern over the situation in Chechnya and Grozny, which has not improved — passed by the European Union (EU) on March 9th.

The EU voiced hope that the Russian authorities will allow the International Red Cross Committee and other international non-governmental organizations to boost the extents of humanitarian operations.

According to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry's press release, the final solution of the conflict can only be reached through political dialogue between Russia and representatives of Chechnya. The EU once again urged the Russian administration to meet the international commitments.

The Lithuanian parliament adopted several resolutions censuring the Chechen war and joined analogous documents passed by the EU this year and in the end of 1999. (BNS)

Russia Prepares New Propaganda Campaign Against Baltics

“Russia's radical populist politicians continue cherishing hopes of setting up a new Soviet Union, consequently preparing a propaganda campaign against the Baltic states,” the Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament) speaker, Vytautas Landsbergis, said during his address to the Parliament session on March 11th.

“Who can describe Russia's new populist radicalism, which in effect will play a key role in deciding our immediate future? What we have seen so far, in terms of actions, is nothing new: top priority is given to territory inasmuch that life on it is regarded with no consequence, followed by fundamental communist-nationalist trust in coercion,” Landsbergis said.

“Such is yet unchanged Russia's historical political tradition. The desire of these politicians to restore the Soviet Union, should not be seen as unexpected. The Lithuanian New Union (Social Liberals) is working here in Lithuania towards the same goal,” Landsbergis continued.

He said that “here in Lithuania we want to maintain good relations with all our neighbors, to have common goals, including universal peace, and profit-making business in the country's oil industry. We will have all these on condition that all sides aspire for it.”

However, Landsbergis pointed out, that “we will not agree that only a bigger partner had the right to define whether good relations and good neighborly relations were, in fact, good enough; and if not, then threats will be issued: be good or else!”

The Seimas speaker said that of late it looked like most of the “blame” was being placed on Latvia, and added that Lithuania should not become too complacent on this.

“The Russian foreign affairs minister has sent a letter to his counterparts of all big states in which the people of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are described as fascists and revisionists who seek to change the results of WWII, i.e., the Yalta treaty,” Landsbergis stated.

He compared this with the situation a decade ago and said that the Russian foreign minister's letter “was aimed at paving the way for a large-scale propaganda campaign.” (BNS) 

Russia Wants KGB Collaborators to Keep Mum

The Russian Federation's Human Rights Commissioner Oleg Mironov expressed “serious concern” over the “lustration laws” (admitting to previous collaboration with KGB secret services) taking place in Lithuania.

“I believe that the principal regulations of the law on registration, confession, and protection of those who admit their collaboration with the USSR special services contravene the international standards guaranteeing protection of one's honor and reputation, and allowing every citizen to join the state service on common grounds and without any discrimination,” Mironov said in a letter to Lithuanian Parliamentary Ombudsman Leonarda Kuodienė.

Mironov also stated that the law “would without doubt impair the relations between Lithuania and Russia, and objectively impede further functioning of mutual ties.”

Kuodienė told BNS that she was surprised with the doubt as to the protection of human rights in Lithuania. In her opinion, the enforced law is in line with the European standards of human rights. Kuodienė added that the regulations of the Lithuanian law are milder than those of the analogous laws in force in Germany and Poland.

About 100 people admitted their KGB collaboration during the first month of the voluntary “lustration”, the State Security Department said.

The “lustration” law suggests that names of those who fail to admit their collaboration with the Soviet-era security services may be made public. They can also be restricted from taking certain posts. (BNS)

Lithuania to Host International Anti-Communist Forum

Vilnius, Lithuania is to host an international congress targeted at censuring crimes committed by Communist regimes on June 12th to the 14th.

Organization issues of the upcoming congress were discussed in early March by the joint commission of the Baltic State's Parliament and representatives of the Lithuanian American Community, Inc.

The commission's leader Liuda Ruginienė said that the main purpose of the forum is censure of the idea of Communism, not specific people.

Participants of the congress are expected to address the parliaments of foreign countries asking to take preventive measures aimed at putting a stop to the spreading of Communist ideologies. The congress is planning to host representatives of 25 states.

Dalia Puškorienė, a representative of the Lithuanian American Community, Inc., said that the Community's council has offered financial assistance to this specific congress. (BNS)

Teaching Material to be Published on Nazi-Soviet Crimes

An International Commission investigating crimes committed by the Nazi and Soviet regimes in Lithuania concluded an agreement signed by the chairman of the Commission, Emanuelis Zingeris, and the Minister of Education and Science, Kornelijus Platelis, in early March.

The agreement stipulates that the Commission and the ministry should cooperate closely in compiling text-books for Lithuanian schools in order to teach about the crimes committed by the Soviet occupation in Lithuania and the Holocaust of Jews under the Nazi regime.

Previous cooperation agreements were signed some time ago with the Lithuanian Research Center of Population Genocide and Resistance, the Lithuanian Academy of Science, and the Defense Ministry.

The Commission is planning to sign cooperation agreements with Lithuania's universities and colleges. (BNS)

Trivia Question Answer

In the book, Samogitia, Chas. L. Thourot Pichel, the author, wrote:

“The leaders’ names often appeared under an assortment of either pagan or Christian titles. King Vytaut, of Lithuania, is a classic example of being listed by chroniclers under numerous variations of his pagan name, such as: Vytaut, Vitold, Vitovt, Vidot, Wytawdus, etc. The Germans preferred to call him by his baptized name of Wigand, and the Russians preferred to call him by his Christian name of Alexander.”

h) Witold. This is the name the Poles preferred to call him.

i) Vytis (Knight). This is the emblem of the Lithuanian State. It is a symbol of Lithuanian sovereignty from the 14th century onwards, but it may have been used earlier, in the time of King Mindaugas (ca 1236-1263). No, the knight sitting on the horse is not Vytautas the Great. Or is he? What do you think?

—Ed Shakalis