On 9 January in Kaunas, at the ceremony of unveiling the memorial plaque dedicated to the Lithuanian Constituent Seimas’ member, former Minister of foreign affairs and diplomat Valdemaras Vytautas Čarneckis, Undersecretary of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius read the letter of congratulations by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis.
As the letter reads, Valdemaras V. Čarneckis was “an outstanding figure in Lithuania’s interwar state life”. The most important events in the Lithuanian diplomacy of the time are associated with his name.
The letter underlines that during Čarneckis’ work in the capacity of unofficial representative of Lithuania to the US, Washington recognised de jure the Republic of Lithuania on 28 July 1922, whereas a difficult task fell to this diplomat on 10 September 1940, when he had to sign the orders liquidating the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and dismissing its entire personnel.
“But the time has not eradicated Valdemaras Čarneckis’ merits to Lithuania. The solidarity of the Baltic States, the international prestige of our country as well as its place in Europe and the world are also of much importance to the Lithuanian diplomacy of today,” Minister Valionis says.
In the Minister’s belief, this memorial plaque is “our tribute to the outstanding Lithuanian diplomat of the interwar period”. “It is slightly belated, but very welcome return of the diplomat to our common historical memory,” Minister Valionis states.