Lithuania’s new Deputy Finance Minister Valentin Gavrilov admits to commemorating the Victory Day celebrated in Russia. He says he will continue doing so despite his loyalty to Lithuania, while his colleagues are calling for his resignation.
On May 9 every year, people put flowers on the graves of Soviet soldiers in Vilnius’ Antakalnis Cemetery. This day is celebrated in Russia as Victory Day over Nazi Germany. Meanwhile, the Western world, including Lithuania, commemorates the end of the Second World War on May 8.
The recently appointed deputy finance minister, social democrat Gavrilov, admits that he visits the Antakalnis Cemetery on May 9 every year.
“This day has always been important in our family. I understand the current situation, but to maintain that respect for my grandparents, for certain relatives who died in the war, we try to maintain that tradition and go to the Antakalnis Cemetery on May 9 to lay flowers at the graves, at the symbolic places,” Gavrilov told LRT TV.
The deputy minister also used to post his May 9 greetings on Facebook but says he no longer does so. However, he intends to continue to commemorate the Victory Day.
“Most of those who come to the cemetery with a carnation are not enemies of Lithuania, they are loyal citizens who work, do their jobs, do their duties and remember the war without a negative attitude towards Lithuania,” Gavrilov said.
Earlier, he also wrote on Facebook that there is no need to increase Lithuania’s defence funding. Now he says he has changed his mind due to the geopolitical situation.
Gavrilov graduated from the Military Academy’s platoon leader course in 2003, is a retired lieutenant, and says he supports Ukraine and would defend Lithuania against an aggressor if necessary.
“I am ready to defend independence morally and otherwise, there is no question of that,” the deputy minister said.
Social democrat Ruslanas Baranovas, vice chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, reacted to the situation, calling for Gavrilov’s resignation.
“May 9 is an important day for all Lithuanian families because it is the day of the occupation of Lithuania. The deputy finance minister can choose to see other shades and continue to commemorate it – we are a democracy – just let him resign first,” Baranovas wrote on Facebook.
The Vilnius branch of the Social Democratic Party, to which Gavrilov belongs, will recommend him not to go to the cemetery on May 9 anymore.
Simonas Kairys, a member of the Liberal Movement faction in the Seimas and former culture minister, has called the deputy minister’s behaviour “domestic Sovietism”.
“When you see such rhetoric, such thoughts from the deputy minister, you see that previously domestic anti-Semitism and now domestic Sovietism are coming into force,” Kairys said.
“I thought that at least such things had gone out of fashion, but what we see is that not only can they come back into fashion, but officials, persons of political trust, are allowing themselves to be manipulated by such ideas,” he added.
On Friday, the President’s Office called Gavrilov’s position on May 9 incomprehensible and unjustifiable.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius said he has no doubts about his deputy’s loyalty to the State of Lithuania.
“I do not doubt his loyalty to the State of Lithuania and his qualifications, and that is the only explanation, the only comment,” Šadzius told BNS on Friday, adding that Gavrilov can continue working.
The Western world, including Lithuania, commemorates the end of the Second World War on May 8, when Germany signed the surrender act in 1945. Lithuania did not become free at the end of the war because it was occupied by the Soviet Union.
Russia uses the Victory Day of May 9 to spread its propaganda and ideology.
Gavrilov was appointed deputy finance minister this week. In the team of social democrat Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius, he is in charge of financial policy, European Union issues, and international relations.
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