Speeches

2011-12-31 New Year Greetings from President Dalia Grybauskaitė

Dear Fellow People of Lithuania, In just a few moments, we will step into the New Year. As we listen to the chimes of time, let us hear each other, let us be together for our nation, let us feel our strength. The continued financial unrest has required special efforts from our country and families. Again and again, history teaches us the importance of togetherness.

2011-12-24 Christmas Greetings from President Dalia Grybauskaitė

Christmas Eve gathers the closest and dearest to share the Christmas wafer. Togetherness brings us joy and happiness.

Christmas is a time of hope and faith.

2011-12-06 Speech by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the 18th Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council

I am delighted to welcome all of you here in Lithuania for the closing event of the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship. This is the second high-level meeting hosted by Vilnius this year. Lithuania has demonstrated that it has the ability and the capacity to lead large international organizations as an honest broker and a strong wish to help produce results.

2011-09-23 Address of H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the United Nations General Assembly Session in New York

Twenty years ago Lithuania rejoined the international community of sovereign states and became a member of the United Nations. The unique experience of peaceful transition, state building and reforms during the last twenty years has made Lithuania stronger and more determined. History has taught us that an honest broker at national, bilateral or multilateral level is the key to solve almost any problem. In recent years we invested in building our capacity to become such a broker. Lithuania has just concluded its chairmanship of the Community of Democracies.

2011-09-23 Speech by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the High-level Meeting on Nuclear Safety and Security

I would like to express my gratitude to the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for his initiative to draw attention of the international community to the issue of high importance – nuclear safety in the world. The 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident as well as other incidents remind us that issues of nuclear security and safety must be reassessed in detail and at the highest international level. Now is the exact moment to make decisions in order to avoid or limit similar disasters in the future.

2011-09-15 Remarks by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the Life Saving Cross Awards Ceremony

Each year as we mark the Memorial Day for the Holocaust Victims, we once again remember the pain and suffering endured by the Jews during World War II. The mass murder of innocent babies, old men and women, little children and their parents is a crime against humanity and against the fundamental right to life. It is a crime that can never be forgiven and that does not have a limitation period.

2011-08-25 Toast Remarks by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at State Dinner in Reykjavik

Your Excellency Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Allow me to thank you, Mr. President, and everybody who helped organize this visit for the warm hospitality extended to me and the Lithuanian delegation in your beautiful country of ice and fire. This is my first visit to Iceland as the President of Lithuania. And therefore it has a special significance for me personally because it takes place at a very special moment.

2011-08-24 Speech by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the Kaiser Otto Prize Award Ceremony in Magdeburg

I am delighted and honored to have the opportunity today to attend the award ceremony of the Kaiser Otto Prize, established in honor of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great, in the beautiful Magdeburg Cathedral. The prize is presented to outstanding persons who have contributed the most to the development of European unity and common European memory. I am therefore very pleased that the Emperor Otto Culture Foundation has decided to award its fourth prize to the German Chancellor, Angela Dorothea Merkel – one of the staunchest supporters of unified Europe.

2011-07-31 Address by H. E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, on the 20th Anniversary of the Massacre in Medininkai

Today we stand on the soil that saw an atrocious massacre twenty years ago. OMON soldiers sneaked in on the night of July 31. They knew they were carrying out a terrible task: this outrageous night saw the killing of customs officers Antanas Musteikis and Sanislovas Orlavičius, ARAS police officers Algimantas Juozakas and Mindaugas Balavakas, road police officers Juozas Janonis and Algirdas Kazlauskas, and police officer Ričardas Rabavičius who died in a hospital a couple of days later.

2011-07-06 Address by H.E. Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of the Republic of Lithuania, in Daukanto Square on the Occasion of State Day

Today we celebrate together the State Day and the Day of the Coronation of King Mindaugas. It is one of the oldest dates in the history of Lithuanian statehood. It is also one of our newest national days. The history of every nation is difficult in its own way. Painful losses and tragic events live on more persistently in the memory of small nations. We – Lithuanians – are no exception. But we can be joyful that our history has been marked not only by dramatic fluctuations, but also by hope.