The Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania marked at the Vaclav Havel library
March 14, Embassy of Lithuania marked the twenty sixth anniversary of the Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania in a public discussion at the Vaclav Havel Library in Prague.
The discussion, “For our freedom and yours: Havel and Lithuania,” examined the first contact between Lithuania and Czech Republic after the “Velvet Revolution” in Prague, the events of March 11th and January 13th in Lithuania and their echoes in Czechoslovakia, and Vaclav Havel’s state visit to Lithuania in 1996.
It is not a coincidence that the theme of the discussion was set by a quote from Havel, spoken at his acceptance speech when he received an honorary doctorate degree at the Vilnius University in 1996, “[Europe] should not allow the large and the powerful to ever again decide about the fates of the smaller and less powerful without asking the latter’s opinion.“
Based on this quote, followed the discussion moderated by Havel Library Director Michael Žantovsky. Amongst the panelists were Alexandr Vondra (Cevre Institute) and Almis Grybauskas (Masaryk University in Brno) who were there to share their memories, thoughts, and today’s topical assessments as direct participants of 1990's political and social events. Assoc. Ph.D. Luboš Švec and the Ambassador of Lithuania in Prague Edvilas Raudonikis contributed to the panel as experts of the Baltic region.
