On August 31, Lithuania marks Freedom Day, commemorating the 30th anniversary of Russian troops leaving the country.
“The withdrawal of the occupying army is a success story for Lithuania. As a result of long and arduous negotiations, a large amount of powerful equipment was taken out of Lithuania peacefully, without violence, without resistance, and tens of thousands of soldiers were transferred to another country,” said Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas.
He said that Lithuania can be proud of its perseverance in achieving the withdrawal of the Russian army one year earlier than Germany, Latvia and Estonia.
In her greetings, Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen noted that the “last Soviet jackboot”, which left Lithuania 30 years ago, marked the liberation from occupation and the final consolidation of independence.
“For 30 years, we have built our country the way its free people wanted it. We have become much stronger than when the heavy Soviet armaments and columns of occupiers were rolling out of Lithuania through the streets of our cities and towns. We are now in the European Union and NATO. We are making history as a free country and we are not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt. And this year’s Freedom Day slogan ‘Red Army Go Home!’ we chant for Ukraine’s victory!” she said in her message.
For her part, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė noted the undaunted resistance to the occupation, the success of Lithuania’s path to independence and the proximity and importance of Ukraine’s struggle for freedom today.
“No aggressor has the right to veto the self-determination of free people, no regime can stifle the will to create their own future, even when it is attempted by force of arms and violence – brutal and physical or silent and long-lasting, instilling fear, destroying faith and trust,” the prime minister said.
According to the Defence Ministry, when Lithuania declared independence on March 11, 1990, about five divisions of the occupying Soviet army and about 34,600, 1,000 tanks, about 180 aircraft and 1,901 armoured vehicles were stationed on its territory.
Soon after the declaration of independence, a negotiation process began, which lasted for years.
The last military echelon of the Russian army passed through the railway station of Kena at 23:46 on August 31, 1993.
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the withdrawal of the occupying army from Lithuania, the Ministry of Defence is organising a concert and a rally in Lukiškių Square.
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