More than three hours before US President Joe Biden’s scheduled speech to the Lithuanian public, a queue of thousands of people lined up at Vilnius University on Wednesday afternoon.
“This is a historic moment, it is not often that the president of the United States comes here. We don’t know when he will come next. All in all, the NATO summit is a significant event at a pressing time,” Mantas Valančius, a 28-year-old PhD student, told BNS.
Lina Laukė, a 50-year-old designer, said she had come to get a sense of the general mood.
“It’s very good to feel that mood. [...] I don’t usually go to such big events, but yesterday I was in Lukiškių Square [to see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky], and the feeling is indescribable. That’s why I decided to come here today, even though the queue is long,” she said.
“Yesterday, I was impressed by the speeches of both [Lithuanian President] Gitanas Nausėda and Volodymyr Zelensky. I think it is a very historic event, an extraordinary feeling. It is one thing to see it somewhere far away, but it is another to see it right here,” said Laukė.
People started queueing before 14:00 for the possibility to watch Biden's speech live in the evening. Some people, however, felt sick due to the hot weather conditions. An ambulance was called to Vilnius University to provide first aid.
President Biden is the second sitting US head of state to visit Lithuania. President George W Bush came to Vilnius in 2002.
He made a public address in Rotušės (Town Hall) Square in Vilnius, saying “every enemy of Lithuania will now also be considered an enemy of the United States”, a quote now inscribed on the Town Hall.
Biden is delivering his speech at the Grand Courtyard of Vilnius University. People will be admitted on a first-come first-served basis. The speech, scheduled to start at 19:30, will also be broadcast live.
President Biden came to Vilnius for a NATO summit. He has met with Lithuanian President Gitans Nausėda and reiterated the US defence commitment to NATO, the Baltic states and Lithuania in particular.
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