Today is a very important and festive day for Lithuania. The term of one president ends and a new president-elect will soon take the oath. The State will open a new page of its history. Several days ago we celebrated the Day of the Coronation of King Mindaugas and the Millennium of Lithuania. It was an opportunity to have a closer look at our history, its most significant dates and personalities, to exchange ideas about the ways in which our nation and the State have arrived the present day and about future prospects. Therefore, while the beginning of Dalia Grybauskaitė's presidency is viewed as a certain threshold in political life, a promising a time of change, we should not forget continuity. And, first and foremost, the continuity of reforms.
President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus presented letters of credence to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to France, Ms. Jolanta Balčiūnienė, and Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Israel, Mr. Darius Degutis.
President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus received President of Iceland, Mr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who is visiting Lithuania to take part in the celebrations of the Millennium of Lithuania in Vilnius.
Today Lithuania is proud of its millennial achievements, but they would not exist without the contribution made by your nations and cultures. Even before the name of Lithuania was recorded in the Annals of Quedlinburg, the Baltic people would say: "Aš esu. Es esmu. Mina Olen [minee olen]", and on the other shore of the Baltic similar words were pronounced: "Jag ar [jaa ė]". Throughout the centuries, we have been united by common words and the common roots of Nordic and Baltic ethnic identities, trade relations, marital bonds, and the Baltic Sea. Since the eleventh century, when Lithuania started to emerge as a nation, these bonds have deepened and expanded, strengthened also by dynastic relationships.
We are gathered together on this very special historic day in a very special historic place. It is here, at the confluence of the rivers Neris and Vilnelė, at the foot of Gediminas Hill where our Cathedral stands so proud and beautiful, that we will walk through the gates of the reconstructed Royal Palace. Lithuania, which is celebrating its millennium and the Day of the Coronation of King Mindaugas, is once again, after several hundred years, opening the doors to the Royal Palace - a symbol of our national identity, never obliterated by time or war, and a token of our living memory.
Following the Holy Mass, President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus participated in the ceremony of a symbolic opening of the Palace of Rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the greeting and seeing-off of the participants of the Millennium Song Festival "Song of the Centuries" on the Cathedral Square. In the courtyard of the Rulers Palace, Lithuanian and foreign leaders were greeted by the State Choir of Kaunas.
In 1009, five letters were written by the hand of a convent nun: LITUA. These letters signified the name of Lithuania - a name that arrived as news from the fringes of the world discovered and incorporated into European history by Christian missionaries. A woman from Saxony inscribed a passage which has led to today's celebration of the Millennium of Lithuania with its capital city of Vilnius serving as the European Capital of Culture in this jubilee year.
