Grybauskaite addresses Mindaugas coronation celebration

  • 2012-07-11
  • From wire reports

VILNIUS - On July 6, the day celebrating the coronation of Mindaugas, President Dalia Grybauskaite took part in the festive flag raising ceremony at Daukanto Square in Vilnius where she delivered State Day greetings to the people of Lithuania, reports ELTA. In her speech, the president underlined that July 6 was a day that gave hope to “our nation” and instilled a feeling of responsibility for the state.

“Such days, as today, remind us that the state - like a crown - can be attained only by our own daily efforts. Our work and dedication will inspire the very young, who are so many in this square, to carry the torch and pass on the spirit of hope, love and responsibility for our homeland just as strong as we inherited it. We bear responsibility for the tradition launched by Mindaugas almost 760 years ago,” she said.
According to Grybauskaite, July 6 symbolizes the decision to pave the country’s own national pathway. It was Mindaugas who chose this path when he united the lands and the people, instilling hope for centuries to come that Lithuanians can, must and want to have a state of their own.

Addressing the people of Lithuania, she said that even though “we do not know the exact place where Mindaugas was crowned, we could easily imagine that the ceremony of his coronation was filled with songs.” She stressed that beautiful songs have always been with the country throughout different periods and that for the next several days they will resound in the streets of Vilnius as Lithuania celebrates the Student Song Festival.

“The students will sing and dance, bringing great joy to Lithuania. Our hearts will be filled with togetherness and the feeling of one voice flowing and building into a chorus of voices, one movement joining others in the crowd. May such energy, unity and togetherness accompany us as we work for the state,” Grybauskaite said.
The president extended her greetings to all Lithuanians around the world and called on them not only to celebrate July 6, but to build and promote Lithuania together.

The first European
The Lithuanian historian Alvydas Nikzentaitis described Mindaugas - the first and only king of Lithuania and the creator of the state - as a pro-Western political symbol, the pro-European figure of Lithuanians, and the most important ruler of the pro-European-minded Lithuanians, reports Delfi.lt.
Mindaugas can be characterized as the first king of Lithuania and the man who laid the foundation of the Lithuanian state, Nikzentaitis said.

According to Nikzentaitis, in the past we were looking for arguments to justify our current actions. For this reason, the value of Mindaugas, compared to all other historical epochs, has strongly increased. This, in the historians’ opinion, happened due to the fact that Lithuania’s accession to the European Union required the state to have a pro-Western political symbol, the historian pointed out.