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On 25 November, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis thanked the Lithuanian Helsinki Group marking 35th anniversary of the establishment for service to truth and freedom, and wished that the ideas of the Helsinki Manifesto continued to be the value basis for creating the era of democracy, peace and unity in Europe.

According to the Minister, priest Karolis Garuckas, physicist Eitan Finkelstein, poet and teacher Ona Lukauskaitė Poškienė, human rights activist Viktoras Petkus and poet Thomas Venclova who established the Lithuanian Helsinki Group in 1976 at the height of the Cold War should be a model of citizenship for the modern society.

"Despite the Soviet repressive apparatus threatening their safety these people turned their efforts and talents to the service to truth and freedom, therefore today they are a model of citizenship and sociality," emphasized A. Ažubalis in his letter of congratulations.

The Minister stressed the importance of democratic values and freedoms enshrined in the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe signed in 1975, to Lithuania and the entire region of Central and Eastern Europe.

“The Helsinki Final Act became a value guideline for many European countries and has led to growing attention to freedom of speech, thought and religion. This, in turn, stimulated the path of freedom for the states of Eastern and Central Europe. Lithuania  had chosen these values and regained its independence, established democracy and is currently at the helm of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe”, A.Azubalis wrote.

According to him, the ideas of democracy and human rights enshrined in the Helsinki agreements must remain the basis for meeting new challenges in Europe.

"I hope that the spirit of the Helsinki Manifesto, which inspired many nations striving for freedom, and gave birth to bold ideas, will be an imperative helping us  to cope with new challenges and value basis for creating the era of democracy, peace and unity in Europe",  the minister stressed.

35th anniversary of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group  was also marked on 16 November  in Vilnius at an international conference “Tolerance and Totalitarianism. Challenges to Freedom”. During the event, dissident, former member of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group Viktoras Petkus received the award of honour of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – ‘Lithuanian Diplomacy Star’ - for his long-term contribution to the resistance movement and to the re-establishment of Lithuania’s independence, also for fostering democratic values and protecting human rights.

Setting up Helsinki Groups was the idea of famous Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov. These groups explored breaches to the decisions of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and informed world society and the governments of the signatory countries about them.