Security umbrella gives cause for celebration

2004-04-01

On the evening of March 29, politicians and policy-makers gathered in the Seimas (Lithuania's parliament) to view Lithuania's deposition of NATO ratification documents in Washington, D.C.

As guests watched the ceremony on a large television screen erected in the Seimas restaurant, some of the people most responsible for Lithuania's entry into the world's most powerful defense alliance gave speeches to mark the event. The Baltic Times recorded the evening's most memorable comments and spoke to other distinguished guests amid the cheers and applause.

"I feel great relief. Fourteen years ago when Russian tanks were surrounding this building our fate was unclear. But now I feel the presence of a great boulder backing us up."
MP Vytautas Landsbergis,
first post-independence Lithuanian executive

"It's this simple-in order for well-being to exist, there must be security."
Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis

"As an old sailor, I'm used to hard work. So I don't want to scare you all when I say that there's a lot of hard work ahead of us."
MP Vaclov Stankevic,
chairman of parliamentary
NATO affairs commission

"Today truly is a national holiday. We must cherish this moment, which is the result of 10 years of hard work."
Parliamentary Chairman
Arturas Paulauskas

"This is the
proudest moment of my life in the U.S. Foreign Service."
Stephen Mull,
U.S. Ambassador to Lithuania

"It's a wonderful day for Lithuania. Lithuania has proven itself to be a real contributor to NATO and a strong
ally of the U.S.A."
Colonel Larry Beisel,
U.S. military attache to Lithuania