Nation celebrates 100th independence anniversary
VILNIUS: European leaders gathered in Vilnius yesterday to celebrate 100 years since Lithuania regained independence after World War I, but amid flaring tensions with powerful neighbour Russia.
“Lithuanians have made a long journey over the last century,” European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement on the eve of the centenary.
“Thanks to them, Lithuania is now a modern, democratic state in its rightful place at the heart of our European Union.”
The Nato and eurozone member of 2.8 million people is today firmly anchored to the West and “protected and respected like never before” according to President Dalia Grybauskaite.
Like fellow Baltic states Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania increased defence spending and welcomed troops from Nato allies after Moscow’s 2014 intervention in Ukraine but Donald Trump’s election as US president has since triggered new concerns regarding American defence commitments.
Lithuania’s statehood stretches back to the 13th century when its first king, Mindaugas, was crowned in 1253.
Later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a European powerhouse until the federation was wiped out in 1795 by imperial Russia, Prussia and Austria.
Until World War I, Lithuania was a province of the Russian empire, which sought to crush nationalism and even banned the Lithuanian alphabet. The Lithuanian council declared independence on Feb 16, 1918, when the country was still under German occupation.