Speeches

Toast by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. Valdas Adamkus, on the Occasion of State Visit to the Czech Republic

Your Excellency Mr. President,
Madam Livia Klausova,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure and privilege for me and my wife Alma to be here in your beautiful and welcoming country, surrounded by your cordial hospitality and undivided attention. I sincerely thank you for the warm reception and kindness extended to us and our entire delegation.

Mr. President,

Our two nations share a long history of friendship and cooperation. Since their very establishment, our people have been linked by close and continuous ties. We still remember that six hundred years ago the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Bohemian military commander Jan Žižka together fought and defeated the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Žalgiris (Grunwald). This moment in the history of our two nations has been immortalized in Jan Matejko's painting "The Battle of Grunwald", and its 19th century copy will be displayed here in Prague at the conference of Lithuanian and Czech historians.

Our two nations have also maintained close academic and scientific ties. In the 14th century, Queen Jadwiga of Poland and Lithuania founded a Lithuanian college at Charles University in Prague where many young Lithuanians absorbed knowledge about the world, science and arts. Vilnius University is very proud of its observatory established by a Lithuanian student of the famous astronomer from Prague, Joseph Stepling, and modeled to resemble the Klementinum Observatory. These and many other examples encourage us to further promote and develop contacts between our students, scientists and citizens, to expand cultural exchanges and to reopen the once-forgotten pages of our cooperation.

I have always greatly admired and I have always been inspired by the first president of pre-war Czechoslovakia, professor and great humanist Tomáš Masaryk. His life's work, his travels across Europe and to America to attain independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe occupied by imperial powers have made him one of the most prominent European public and political figures. While still lecturing as professor, he contributed in a major way to abolishing the ban on the Lithuanian press in Tsarist Russia. When the Lithuanian national state was being conceived, Doctor Jonas Basanavičius, who is one of the fathers of the Lithuanian language, introduced diacritical marks in the letters ž, č, š which were borrowed from the Czech orthography. In this way, the bonds of friendship between our two nations have been forever imprinted in the Lithuanian language.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our history is rich and full of meaning, but the current stage in the relationship of our two countries is no less impressive. Today Lithuania and the Czech Republic are proud about their modern and dynamic partnership based on common interests, and there are many examples that eloquently demonstrate a genuine revival of political, military, economic and cultural relations between our open societies. This visit of mine is taking place at a very special time: the Czech Republic presides, very successfully, over the European Union, while Lithuania celebrates the millennium of the first mention of its name in written sources.

Our two countries are actively working at the international level to ensure peace, promote democratic values and protect human rights. Our soldiers stand shoulder to shoulder in protecting peace and stability far away from Europe's border, in Afghanistan. We are very grateful to the Czech Republic, our ally and reliable partner in NATO: this coming May, the Czech Air Force will take over the Baltic Air Policing Mission in Lithuania. Security is indivisible, and the security of our people is the security of NATO. For us, small countries, it is greatly important to stand in solidarity, support each other and work together toward common goals.

This experience of ours commits us to engage together in other important endeavors: to strengthen Europe's energy security, to enable all European nations, EU neighbors in the East and the Balkans enjoy democracy and freedom, to protect peace and to develop cooperation among the nations. We must work to reduce the existing visa and movement obstacles that prevent people-to-people contacts. Only together and only unified will we create a vibrant, competitive, and self-confident Europe and strengthen stability and well-being across the region and the world.

Today we can delight in our dynamic national economies and the ever growing volume of trade. As the world is going through an economic downturn, one of the objectives of my visit to your country is to develop bilateral economic relations and encourage your business people to show more interest in Lithuania. I am very pleased with the opportunity to speak to the corporate leaders of major banking institutions, industrial companies and information technologies which have invested in the Czech Republic. I hope that more and more business people will become interested in Lithuania, too, because we definitely have a whole range of yet undiscovered options for economic cooperation.

I am delighted that our two nations maintain active cultural contacts: we stage exhibitions, exchange musical performances and literary works, and together gain victories in international sporting events. Today, as I look as the Czech Republic and Lithuania, I see that they have many common points in both their history and the present day. I firmly believe that we will continue our cooperation, bringing the people of our countries even closer together and building a strong and effective structure of partnership on the foundation laid down over many centuries.

Your Excellency,

I would like to once again thank you for your kind invitation and hospitality. I raise my glass to your health, Mr. President, and to that of Madam Livia Klausova, to successful cooperation between Lithuania and the Czech Republic, and to the prosperity and well-being of our two nations.

H.E. Mr. Valdas Adamkus, President of the Republic of Lithuania