Lithuanians mull question of identity

VILNIUS -- Lithuanian minds are concentrating on the question of national identity with both the prime minister and president musing on the subject in recent days.

LithuanianPrime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas has given his backing to the idea of a shared symbol for the Baltic states.

"It would be good if all the three Baltic states would agree on a common symbol. Regional cooperation in the European Union (EU) is expanding. This year the cooperation strategy of all the Baltic Sea states will be discussed. After accession to the Schengen Treaty, one can freely travel around the Baltic Sea, these are new economic, culture and business opportunities," Kirkilas said in an interview with Latvian daily Latvijas Avize on Feb 16.

A specially established commission on image creation, chaired by Kirkilas, on Jan. 25 approved a strategic marketing concept for the presentation of Lithuania around the world. The plan calls for an image makeover underscoring Lithuania's bravery, creating a representative Web site, and possibly changing the country's name in English.

The committee proposed the national slogan: "Lithuania - a brave country." It also somewhat optimistically recommended enticing Hollywood studios to shoot a Braveheart-style historical epic about the country to raise its international profile.

"There have been several competitions with participation of professionals. Half a year ago it was decided that there will a symbol for Lithuania, but later it was discovered that it was similar to the tree symbol of the city of London in Canada, and everything had to be started from scratch again," said the Lithuanian premier.

According to Kirkilas, the idea is that bravery links the past and the future by developing an economy focused on knowledge and progress 's whatever that means.

"Presently there are discussions held about the slogan, and we can say that these are long discussions as this is the issue on which everybody has his own opinion. Possibly, we have not chosen the right approach to hold such lengthy discussions, but society should be involved. There are many areas in which almost everybody has something to say, such as basketball, love, and so on... we have not yet managed to find a common position on Lithuania's image," he said. 

Meanwhile, in a speech marking the 90th anniversary of the declaration of Lithuanian independence, President Valdas Adamkus urged the populace to be "worthy of our long and great history and let us purify our aspirations from anger, hatred and short-lived interests. Let us be worthy of our state and nation: let us be the architects of a new Lithuania."

"Today we are walking down a path where we feel more secure from external threats than ever before in the course of our history. It is globalization and the rapidly changing world that create crucial challenges," the head of state declared.

He noted that the agreement signed with Poland on construction of a common energy bridge will further enhance the nation's independence, and be important not only to Lithuania and Poland, but Estonia, Latvia and the rest of Europe as well.