Lithuania celebrates March 11

VILNIUS - On March 11, Lithuania celebrated its national holiday, the re-establishment of independence. On that day in 1990, 124 MPs voted in favor of re-establishment of independence, while six MPs, elected in the ‘Polish’ constituencies of Vilnius region and who were the only MPs of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, then already exotic in Lithuania, abstained – nobody voted against. Current MPs and MPs of 1990 gathered in the parliament to celebrate the holiday.

Parliament Speaker Irena Degutiene said in her speech all the right words which are usually said on that occasion. Then other speakers occupied the parliament’s rostrum. “There are still two Lithuanias,” Algirdas Butkevicius, leader of the Social Democrats, said, pointing out remaining differences between the rich and the poor in Lithuania. Antanas Terleckas, Soviet-era dissident and political prisoner, expressed his dissatisfaction that in 1990 former communists were allowed to participate in Lithuania’s political life and the process of privatization of state property, but he expressed happiness that his children and grandchildren are free now and they can travel or study wherever they want. Saulius Peceliunas, MP of the ruling Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, attacked Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaite for forcing too many high standing officials to resign and accusing her of dictatorial tendencies because of it. “The cutting of heads has already became a part of folklore,” Peceliunas said about Grybauskaite’s actions. The commemoration in the parliament finished with a message from Degutiene about the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan – she finished the sitting in the parliament by giving her condolences to the Japanese people.

It would be interesting to observe Grybauskaite’s reaction to Peceliunas’ speech, but she could not come to the parliament due to an urgent European Council meeting in Brussels on March 11 on the situation in Libya. After her arrival in Brussels, she said that a decision on international military action in Libya should be taken only with the approval of the UN and the Arab League (the latter gave its approval on a no-fly zone over Libya on March 12). A majority of EU heads had the same position and, therefore, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who on the eve of the European Council meeting, recognized the Libyan rebel’s government and urged for immediate military action, was not supported on the EU level on March 11. Sarkozy’s sudden eagerness for heroic deeds was partly caused by French opinion polls published on March 6 and March 8.

According to the polls, Sarkozy would not even reach the second round of French presidential elections, while the unquestionable leader in both polls is Marine Le Pen, leader of the far right National Front – she would get almost a quarter of all French votes in the first round of a presidential election, according to both polls, and will probably have some chance to win in the second round against the socialist candidate. The far right was also present in Vilnius’ streets on March 11, although the Lithuanian far right Young Lithuania Party can only dream about the popularity of their French colleagues – they received no seats in the Vilnius council during the recent municipal election and have no chance to get into the parliament.

On March 11, the demonstration commemorating re-establishment of independence by some 1,000 young Lithuanian nationalists started in the Cathedral Square and went along Gedimino Avenue. They chanted “Lithuania to Lithuanians!” and their posters stated “No to the East or the West. Lithuania for Lithuania’s children!”, “I am proud that I am Lithuanian,” “Skin Heads for native Lithuania, race and nation!” There were many skinheads in the demonstration. Interestingly enough, according to Lithuanian sociologists, a big part of those nationalist skinheads are children of ethnic Russian and other Slavic-origin families. They join the Lithuanian nationalists due to a natural assimilation process. This year, the march of Lithuanian nationalists in Vilnius was also joined by several nationalists from Germany, carrying the black-white-red tricolor, which was Germany’s state flag until 1918, and later it was rather respected by the Nazis, although they introduced their own state flag.

A big poster of the German nationalists in the Vilnius demonstration stated, in Lithuanian and German, “For freedom of nations!” Some of the participants wore military-style camouflage clothes. Some of them had the swastika on their clothes and posters, although, whenever asked, these young people said that it is an ancient symbol of the Balts, according to archaeology excavations.

Several protesters stood alongside Gedimino Avenue. Algirdas Paleckis, leader of the microscopic Moscow-friendly far left Socialist People’s Front, managed to bring four of his followers. However, there were also some people with mainstream views among the protesters – several activists of the Tolerant Youth Association were holding their posters in Lithuanian and English. One of them stated, “No to Nazism in Lithuania!” One young woman, dressed in black clothes and holding black poster with the white inscription “Kill the state in yourself!” sat on the avenue in front of the oncoming demonstration, but police asked her to leave. The demonstration was not greeted by incidental passers by – just people sitting in cafes were looking with curiosity from the windows and smiling Japanese tourists were taking photos of the demonstration, which finished near the former KGB headquarters with a speech by a young German who said good words about heroic Lithuanians stopping Soviet tanks with their bodies on Jan. 13, 1991. The demonstration finished without incident – after the similar demonstration in Kaunas on Feb. 16, a Pakistani citizen was attacked.

Kazimieras Uoka, MP of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, showed solidarity with the young radicals by participating in this already traditional nationalist march of March 11. Andrius Kubilius, prime minister and chairman of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats, expressed on March 14 his condemnation of the demonstration. For the tastes of the majority of Lithuanians, the demonstration looks too ambiguous. On March 12, the most popular Lithuanian Internet site, delfi.lt, asked its readers, “Do you agree with nationalistic demonstrations in the center of Vilnius on March 11?” The answers were as follows: 61 percent said “no,” 32 percent said “yes” while seven percent chose the answer “I have no opinion about it.”

On March 11, some 20 persons demonstrated in front of the Lithuanian embassy in Warsaw with a poster stating “Stop discrimination of Poles in Lithuania!” It remained unclear who and how discriminates against the Poles but the demonstration came as no surprise for those who follow Polish media, where the nationalistic rhetoric in the case of Lithuania runs almost as high as in 1938, when Poland invaded Czechoslovakia and handed an ultimatum to Lithuania.