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On 9 March, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis paid a visit to Vilnius comprehensive school named after Pope John Paul II and congratulated the pupils and teachers on the twentieth anniversary of the re-establishment of Lithuania’s Independence. The Minister spoke about the cooperation between Poland and Lithuania, and the Polish-Lithuanian relations.

The Minister stressed that among the defenders of Lithuania’s Independence and the Signatories of the 11 March 1990 Act of Independence were representatives from all the main Lithuania’s ethnic groups, who voted together for an independent and free Lithuania.

According to Minister A.Ažubalis, the victory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland at the Battle of Grunwald most obviously illustrates the strength of solidarity.

In the Minister’s words, we can be proud of the fact that Lithuania has given to neigh boring Poland one of its best kings, Jogaila, and to the entire Central Europe - the Jagiellonian Dynasty.

Minister A.Ažubalis also spoke about Polish-Lithuanian relations in the later periods, the Constitution of 3 May 1791, the Amendment to the Constitution made by Lithuanian nobleman Kazimieras Sapiega, which allowed the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to remain an equivalent political partner of the Kingdom of Poland, and the uprisings of 1831 and 1863, during which the motto “For our freedom and yours” was first used.

“Today we continue to support each other also in the countries that are far away from Europe, for example, in Afghanistan, where we serve together in the NATO forces,” Minister A.Ažubalis said.

Sharing his memories of the times when the Sąjūdis (the Reform Movement of Lithuania) started, the Minister evaluated the support of the Solidarność (Reform Movement of Poland) to Sąjūdis and contacts that the two movements had.

“The first visit of the delegation of Sąjūdis was paid to Poland, where we met with Bronisław Geremek, Adam Michnik and other politicians of the new Poland,” the Minister said.