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He spoke in Vilnius on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of the declaration of former US Secretary of State Sumner Welles.
In this 1940 declaration, the United States declared that it did not recognize the forced incorporation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union.
“The American writer Mark Twain has said that history does not repeat itself, but rhymes,” said the Lithuanian head of diplomacy at the event.
“We may ask, do we not hear a similar rhyme today, when we have to confirm for ourselves that we do not recognize the occupations, Crimea, that we do not recognize the annexation of Belarus if it happens to an illegitimate president? We will not give in to the new dictators who have replaced the old ones and that we are going to believe in the right of nations to self-determination, ”he added.
“So this historic occasion is an extremely important lesson for us and for the future. Therefore, remembering the past and thanking us, let us understand that this is our commitment today and our task for those who expect the same from us today, from Lithuania, from the Baltic States, ”said the Minister.
The US Ambassador to Lithuania, Robert Gilchrist, stated that the Welles Declaration was “one of the most important and principled political decisions in the history of our country”, and that Lithuania, the first to declare its independence from the Soviet Union, will always remain a source of inspiration.
The Ambassador stressed that Belarus is striving today for freedom and statehood.
“Today, the whole world watches Belarusians fight against tyranny, for whom Lithuania has become a safe haven. And it is Lithuania today that calls on like-minded nations not to recognize the rigged elections of August 2020” said the diplomat.
“The United States has consistently supported a free, independent and democratic Belarus over three decades. And despite the terrible violence and violence that Belarusians have suffered over the past year, we are not losing hope,” Gilchrist said.
According to him, the people of Belarus deserve more than to live in a country governed by a repressive and illegal regime that does not shy away from risking the independence and territorial integrity of the country by opening up more and more to Russian support.
Vytautas Landsbergis, president of the Supreme Restorative Council-Seimas of Lithuania, and Emanuelis Zingeris, president of the Seimas Inter-Parliamentary Relations Group with the United States, also spoke at the event.
