From Lithuania...

Vytautas Landsbergis:
Focusing on the Future

Vytautas Landsbergis is the President of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania. The speeches were translated into English by Jūratė Dvarionaitė.

In the last few months, Chairman of Lithuania's Seimas (Parliament) Vytautas Landsbergis expressed the importance of change and growth for the 21st century when he delivered two very important speeches. The first speech was delivered at the International Conference in Warsaw, Poland following the session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from May 28th to the 31st. It was entitled, "NATO after 50 Years: The New Old Alliance". This same Conference is scheduled to take place in Vilnius in the year 2001.

The second speech of equal importance and dedicated to the World's youth was given at the European Youth Meeting and Pilgrimage in Santiago de Compostela, Spain on August 5th. This address was entitled, "What Would Be the Politics in the 21st Century?" Excerpts from these speeches follow below.

NATO after 50 Years: The New Old Alliance

In the latter several years, as the North Atlantic Alliance was approaching its 50th anniversary, new firm intentions of the organization matured, became visible and were realized. Both of the most important developments directly concern Lithuania, the secure future we are seeking: the geographical enlargement of NATO and the change of NATO ideology.

The first objective is the enlargement of NATO. It includes the principle of membership access to the organization, a real possibility to accept new members – democratic states wishing to make their contribution to the international security, international stability in military and other fields of the ever-growing Euro-Atlantic area. The criteria of the preparation for joint defense and peace keeping encourages the applicant states to be a party to sincere and coherent partnerships. Thus, yet before acceding to the Alliance, they are already involved in joint efforts, and adequate readiness for membership is a fair criterion evident to everyone.

The second objective of NATO is changing the Alliance’s ideology covering its focus and methodology. The territorial defense (when the territories of the member states are added up) is replaced with a move towards the task of protecting a broader international environment. This extends beyond the protection of NATO member states themselves from direct aggression by undertaking the surveillance and stabilization of their international environment: preventive protection against the emergence, escalation or approach of aggression.

What do these changes have to do with Lithuania?

We are concerned with NATO access as a continuous non-stop process: especially in Central Europe, from the Baltic to the Adriatic Sea (yet in further perspective, noticing the aspirations of the South Caucasian states). Certainly we are primarily concerned with NATO access in the direction of Lithuania.

Lithuanian policies themselves perceive this as the second stage of the liberation with further implementation of the principle of the freedom of choice and unquestionable, unrestricted national freedom.

A decade ago, we voiced our free will to leave the area of captivity.

It is our will now to leave the area of insecurity and instability. Leave for what? Surely, for the area of stability and its name is NATO. Insecurity always breeds fear and distrust, and fear again is a part of that captivity.

We do not want anyone to threaten or intimidate us or deny our right to choose.

We want freedom from insecurity and we want to freely take on the obligations to international security as a member of the Alliance…

…The Washington Summit came, where I discern, two further steps forward.

First, the document, which characterizes applicant states, enumerated an order…[The first group] In alphabetical order, they are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovenia. Then follows the second group with a different label – Bulgaria, Slovakia, and yet further – Albania, Macedonia.

According to this list, either all five of the leading states, or some of them, which are more leading than the others can expect to be invited to accede NATO in the year 2000.

Alongside the document, an important step forward was the Washington atmosphere. Some of the issues are no longer debated; they are [considered] to be true. The enlargement is underway, and it will not be stopped. Three new members mean three new votes in favor of not stopping the enlargement. If you will, they are three experts who [know] what is security and insecurity in the post-Soviet area.

Even the Russian generals are beginning to [comprehend] the reality: the fact that NATO is expanding, that Lithuania will be accepted…

…Today NATO stands up to Serbia, to the Hitler of the Balkans. As long as Russia advocates Slobodan Milosevic and the regime of Belgrade without denouncing the brutal expulsion of millions of Albanians from their native lands, Russia, unfortunately, remains on the different side of the value line than the Western democracies.

This was the choice of Russia itself, maybe spontaneous, but still a step towards self-isolation from Europe, from its partner, the North Atlantic Alliance, refraining even from participating in the latter's fiftieth anniversary.

Political support to the criminal regime, which failed to prevent Belgrade from another crime of 'ethnic cleansing', but rather encouraging it, must have one logical consequence. It would be the awareness that Russia's protests against NATO enlargement bears yet less weight than earlier. In other words, the so-called "Russian factor" should be minimized…

…One cannot reject the risk that for the weakened support to Milosevic and involvement in the efforts to find the solution, Russia can be paid a promise: not to invite a single Baltic state to NATO in 2002.

The outcome would be disastrous; however, forecasts are still too early to make, maybe, there is no need to make them.

There is only a question: will not the Russian authorities be given some promise of this kind?…

…We feel the tragedy of the expelled people stronger than those who have never experienced it. Lithuania has undergone mass deportations to Siberia and will approve of the return of Kosovo deportees to their native settlements when no executioners are left. This must happen before winter. The deportees will have to be protected and assisted. I believe that our country will manage to do that together with the North Atlantic community.

What Would Be the Politics in the 21st Century?

Politics is the state and inter-state affairs, and activities of statesmen. Its medium is humankind.

In the 21st century politics will depend on the development of humankind, that is, on you in the first place! It will also depend on the responsibility of statesmen. I am certain some of you will become statesmen. Hopefully, happy statesmen, even if such a feeling is difficult to imagine.

What is happiness, which a human being is seeking as an individual and a member of community? This should be the fundamental issue. Yet, do we really feel ourselves members of one family, brothers and sisters sharing the same fate, who 2000 years ago were told that we have one Father? Such a simple lesson, and we are still learning it in the first form. Alas, this is the reason why the future of humankind is uncertain.

One of the possible paths for humankind is egotism; the epidemic of egotism taking root everywhere.

To us God is love, without which everything loses sense. Because of that we should see how dangerous is egotism as the death of love. This happens when only love for oneself starts to dominate and remains; which ultimately is transformed into the hatred for that self.

There is a popular ballad in the teenage culture in Lithuania at present. Every stanza of which ends with the same words: ‘cause nobody ever loved me…’

That is enough to bring one to tears. But, we can also ask if you ever loved anybody, if you have done any good to others, sympathized with anybody or saved anybody.

Love and pity for oneself is rubbish, endless infantilism in the best case (like in that song).

Egotism leads to alienation, hostility to other people and the environment, indifference and cruelty. We are often astonished to witness such deficiency of sympathy displayed by people towards a creature reminiscent of themselves. People take delight in the torture of other people or do this for a couple of dollars: the life of a man, of thousands of men, worth nothing. Where are the reasons? The culture of death is, in fact, a consequence already. What are then the reasons that man does not show mercy for another human being, as if we were stepping back into the natural selection among the kingdom of animalia?

It is possible that there is a much more common reason: the individual, at times also in a collective, ethnic or religious prison of egos. Other people beyond the confines of that prison seem alien, not understandable, and therefore scary. They are ugly and dangerous. There are too many of them and one must protect oneself against them. Their name is a legion, which means an enemy.

One large Eurasian State has been ill with this for hundreds of years. I am now thinking about that unfortunate country, which had twice held in long captivities my homeland – Lithuania. Conquests and seizures had been "poor Russia’s" self-defense against the seemingly hostile rest of the world.

The idea that ‘the enemies are everywhere’ is a deep-rooted dreadful virus, and its attacks can be fought probably only with NATO antibiotics and a patient demonstration of the benefits of democracy and co-operation of nations in the view of former conquests and hegemonies.

Let us imagine an individual who persistently believes that enemies are everywhere around him and we will understand what psychotherapeutic problems will have to be addressed by the so-called ‘politics’ also into the 21st century. All of us in Europe must help Russia, but in a sincere and friendly manner: which means without ingratiating ourselves with its dangerous weakness for phobias. The Christian ethics knows what is ‘demanding love’, which has nothing to do with being ingratiating.

Only the Teacher of love on the cross sadly watches us, still in the first form. And the first-form pupils face new modern tasks, too; for instance, how to co-ordinate integration and identity.

The Europe of Homelands would be a concept favored, probably, by most Central European states -- the nations of which survived thanks to their unwavering wish to retain their individuality. Thus they even used to restore their states. To accuse them of cultural ‘nationalism’ would be equal to a reproach -- why do you still exist, Hungarians, Czechs, and Lithuanians?

On the contrary, the diversity of cultures, the abundance of nations with firm identity in Europe is a treasure of both the continent and the emerging European Union. It is appreciated (when it is conceived), it is adored (when it is seen and heard), it does not have to be feared at all.

In a forest, you can pick wild strawberries, bilberries. In a field, you can dig some potatoes. Taste them one by one, and you will see that every tiny berry has a different tint of taste, a different aroma. Even potatoes, when boiled in a pot, taste differently; moreover, they differ in shape, tinge. One can make jam of berries and mash potatoes; the result is a different quality, a uniform mass. In order not to turn them to a kind of a feeding stuff, sometimes it is useful to bend down, to pick a single berry, and eat it. And do you know that no two identical leaves can be found on a tree?

From these examples, let us return to the identity of nations and people. If you see a variety of interesting people around you, if you manage, at least to some extent, to know them, to sympathize with them, thus, to slightly love them -- you love life itself. This life among understanding and sympathizing people already protects you against egotism (by the way, against suicide too). And those people appear protected against your egotism; thus an open community of people appears or can appear.

This is another possible path of humankind. Which one will you chose, the creators of the twenty-first-century Europe?

Be yourself, be a personality, an individual, develop your gifts and powers in order to sense the meaning of all that and happiness.

Good neighborhood is the vision of the ‘Europe of Homelands’. Good neighborhood can give birth to the feeling of kinship, the equivalent of such a relationship. Then the ‘Europe of Homelands’ could evolve into ‘Homeland Europe’, which would not eliminate the first concept, but rather supplement it. I think that the process is possible -- slow and spontaneous, by preserving the identity in the integration. If, anyway, some ideologists and practitioners wishing to speed up the process artificially, moreover, by sacrificing identity for the sake of integrity, emerged, they would fail, and conflicts, opposition would arise. People have their own customs, attitudes, and even apparel. They would reject the uniform relentlessly pressed upon them, and once again save not only themselves but also the essence of Europe -- the treasure of diversity.

Now, let us turn to politicians, people who work on the level of states. Their situation is two-faced and ambiguous. Politics is the crossroads of interests (always), expectations (always), and principles (rather seldom, though should be rather often). Unfortunately, the politician must please; while the truth, especially, the truth, which does not ingratiate with the electorate, usually is not pleasing. To receive the highest possible number of votes, you should not speak of everything you think and would be willing to speak, but rather, first and foremost, you should speak of what those good people want to hear. You speak to them of the affairs in the state and what we should do together, and some of them might be surprised -- why are you not making any promises about what you will give us tomorrow?

It is good luck, maybe the grace of Providence, to be able to take part in the liberation of millions. This is a wave of joy and hope from the crests of which you may see far away. However, the wave never freezes for long, it sinks… Yes, we have found ourselves on a new shore, but what follows next? Shell-splinters and litter are scattered around, the sun is shining and the grass is swaying. Adam, Eve and their children have to search for a spade and toil. To envy one’s brother and to murder is prohibited! Everything seems to be simple; however, it is never simple. One can immediately hear the complaint: ‘Freedom has created new problems for us. We wanted something else!’ ‘We gave you the mandate, but life is still full of hardships. Account for your conduct!’

In large meetings, I used to hear sincere questions of people: answer us, when will we live better? I used to try to answer: as soon as we become better, when we change ourselves, start living in harmony, stop drinking, work hard for ourselves and our families. I used to try to say: ‘I am not Godot who could bring an unknown good without your own effort.’ ‘We will have to labor together, to work patiently and honestly.’

Certainly, these ideas were not those followed by a storm of applause, especially in a post-communist country. There, as we know, generations replaced generations while ‘waiting for Godot’, and that was not the theatre of absurdity, but the everyday spiritual reality.

Politics must embrace ethics, and politics, undoubtedly, is a part of culture. Yehudi Menuhin used to speak about a future in which arts and politics go hand in hand shaping the society of a higher culture.

You, the youth of Europe, seem to have a lot of time; there are things for you to ponder over in silence, but do not postpone your thinking about politics for the entire Third Millennium. There are jobs waiting for you everywhere: your hands, hearts and heads should serve not only yourselves. Therefore, do not shun the spade of politics. However, never use it for smashing the heads of people in a congregation, as in Tbilisi square ten years ago, but to take up Adam’s job: for the patient enrichment of the soil of humankind.

God bless you.u

"Books to Note"

It is always difficult to find books about aspects of Lithuanian history, culture, and the people in the English language. Several books have been recently published that may fill in the gaps, although we need more writers to publish. A sorely needed book would entail Lithuanian literature. It is difficult to translate some of the very well known works but, definitely doable. Literature gives the reader a look into the way Lithuanians viewed themselves, their country, and their relationships.

The following books are easily ordered by writing to the addresses included in the descriptions.

LITHUANIA AGAINST SOVIET AND NAZI AGGRESSION by Adolfas Damušis chronicles the three occupations of Lithuania during World War II with archival research and personal recollections. Source documents used for this important book were surveyed at two major repositories – the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and the Gestapo archive at Ludwigsburg, Germany. Information and photos from interviews with former colleagues in the resistance were also included.

Damušis includes a brief history of Lithuania, events leading to and about the effects of the first and second Soviet occupation, the German occupation, anti-Nazi and anti-Soviet resistance, the National Lithuanian Army, and other detailed accounts and events of that time period. The 342-page book is amply illustrated with photos, maps and documents. The book is available from The American Foundation for Lithuanian Research, Inc., 12690 Archer Ave., Lemont, IL 60439 -- hardcover price is $15.00.

A HISTORY OF THE LITHUANIAN MILITARY FORCES IN WORLD WAR II 1939-1945 by Henry L. Gaidis fills in all the gaps about what happened in Lithuania during World War II. The fact that it covers this one specific time period allows the reader to delve into detailed information about many facets of the struggle for independence.

The Knight’s review (January-February 1999) stated that "the text gives a brief history of the modern day Lithuanian army since its 1918 founding, a description of its military and political structure during the 1940 Soviet occupation, the 1941 Nazi invasion, the Lithuanian war front, the Second 1944 Soviet occupation, and the subsequent 1944 – 1956 Lithuanian partisan struggle." Detailed documentation puts into perspective the time of the Nazi occupation and how Lithuania reacted to the Jewish question – countering the numerous falsehoods hostile to the Lithuanian people.

To order the book, write to The Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, 5600 South Claremont Ave., Chicago, IL 60636-1039 – cost is $28.50 plus $3.00 shipping and handling.