Lithuania celebrates a fork in the road well taken

VILNIUS - On March 11, 1990, the democratically elected Parliament of Lithuania proclaimed the restoration of the country's independence. Now March 11 is a national holiday.

The commemoration was held in Parliament.

"This day marked the end of the biggest empire in the world. Proclaiming independence, we were aware that our choices are Western values, democracy and free market," Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius said.

He urged Parliament to issue a law recognizing the current Parliament Chairman Vytautas Landsbergis as the former head of state that would make him equal to the status of former presidents in certain state privileges and respect. In 1990 - 1992 Landsbergis was parliamentary chairman, the highest post of the state then. The president's office was established only in 1993. Landsbergis was again parliamentary chairman after the overwhelming victory of his Conservative Party in 1996.

In his speech, Landsbergis recalled the resolution adopted by the U.S. Senate and Congress on the occasion of the 10-year anniversary of Lithuania's restoration of independence.

"Lithuania started the crumbling of the Soviet Union," said the resolution.

Landsbergis urged his country to join Western structures as soon as possible. He rejected the possibility of a third way in Lithuania's geopolitical path.

"Lithuania will either be in the democratic West, or in the authoritarian East," Landsbergis said. He expressed concern about the current rise in Russia of "radical populism and communist-nationalist trust in violence."

Landsbergis said that Russian radical populists want "to re-create the Soviet Union and the New Union works in this direction in Lithuania." The New Union (Social Liberals) is the political party of Arturas Paulauskas, former rival of Valdas Adamkus in the last presidential election. This party stands high in the social survey charts now. The New Union's reaction was immediate. It issued a statement saying that Landsbergis' accusations are bordering on insane logic and are caused by the forthcoming municipal and parliamentary elections.

Most of the people are exuberant about March 11.

"Lithuania is on the threshold of NATO and the EU. We can travel throughout Europe without visas," said Algirdas Kumza, an MP in 1990 and who voted for independence on the historic March 11.

"In ten years time we have afforded ourselves the freedom to write whatever we want. Our youth do not know what censorship is," Vytautas Andziulis said. From a basement in his Kaunas home he established an underground publishing house in the 1980s. There he issued 137,000 copies of underground patriotic and Catholic magazines and books during Soviet oppression. The Soviet KGB never caught him.

"Now excursions are going to visit my underground publishing house. I hope that nobody ever will be forced to establish such publishing houses," Andziulis said. Persons observing Lithuanian political life are positive about the development of the country.

"It was 10 years of big work after 50 years of Soviet occupation. Now Lithuania is one democracy among other European democracies. Political life functions as in a normal democracy. It works well with minorities. On the economic field Lithuania has done a lot to expand a market economy despite the negative effect of the Russian crisis in August 1998, and after the difficult year of 1999. I think Lithuania is on a good track," Didier Gonzalez, first secretary of the French embassy, said.