Lithuanians rejoice over their newfound independence on 11 March 1990.
Here from Pilies Street in Vilnius Old Town.

I can very well imagine that many of those who signed the declaration act that March day 21 years ago did it with trembling pens. They knew what power they challenged, and they were certainly fully aware of what reprisals they and the people they represented could expect from the big bear in the east. The Soviet Union was not a superpower to joke with or irritate, and the signatories knew that they would not be treated with kid gloves if the bear decided to strike back, reacting to the severance requirement that was signed in Lithuania’s Parliament that day.

But they signed. They were brave. Without their signatures on the document shown below, it is quite possible that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia still today would be unfree republics under the 'protective' bear paws.

The Declaration of Independence on 11 March 1990 was Lithuania’s second in the 20th century. The first one was signed on 16 February 1918. Both statements were signed by wise and courageous political leaders who did not want to accept that their beloved homeland would remain occupied.

When Lithuania by the end of the 1930s celebrated the 21st anniversary of the century's first freedom declaration, a united country could proudly say that both politicians and society as a whole had succeeded in recreating a strong and progressive nation in the years that had passed since 1918. I have been told that Lithuania in the middle-war period had the world's fastest growing economy, and I know with certainty that this nation was fully on par with, perhaps even ahead of, its neighbours in Scandinavia and the rest of Europe when World War II so brutally overthrew and destroyed the fine Lithuanian nation which had been redeveloped during the pre-war years.

So now I ask you, ye who on the 11th of March 1990 signed the document below: Can you honestly say that you are satisfied with the Lithuania that has evolved over the past 21 years? Can you with the same force as the country's pre-war leaders say that you have done a good job of recreating a Lithuania you and the entire nation can be proud of? Are you satisfied with how 'The Lithuanian House' has been cleared and cleaned after the 50-year nightmare under Soviet supremacy came to an end? Is it not true that there still remains the same old kind of Soviet dust in nearly all corners of the House?

Please allow me to doubt if you can claim with conviction that you are satisfied with today’s state of affairs in Lithuania. I admit that I sometimes have been disappointed seeing that you, who so bravely defended a free Lithuania in 1990, have not been more critical to the country’s leading authorities over the latest 20 years, even as Lithuania continues to suffer under 'stupidity curses' such as corruption, greed, selfishness, cheating, distrust and lack of teamwork, mutual respect and honest care. I believe you have seen that far too many of Lithuania’s leaders have been caring more about their personal benefits and positions than about the nation, and I wish you had reacted firmly against such behaviours.

I wish all the best for you and for Lithuania. But I would like to see a thorough clean-up action before I can fully express my joy and pride for this country. You were brave and wise in 1990. Please be that again. I urge you to think about Lithuania's future generations. I ask you to make a new commitment, as important as the one you signed on 11 March 1990. I urge you to stand up as guarantors for a Lithuania without deceit and cheating.

I kindly ask you to once again climb up to the very same barricade top you so proudly stood on in 1990. This time not to be set free, but to be bound – bound to pressure our present day politicians and leaders to accept a commitment to a cleaner and brighter development process in and for Lithuania.

The independence declarations of 1918 and 1990 were signed by wise and courageous political leaders who did not want to accept that their beloved homeland should remain occupied. Today there is a need of a document that declares another but not less important deed – making it perfectly clear that you, the proud signatories of the 11 March act, DO NOT ACCEPT that this country remains corrupted and mismanaged in so many areas.

Please do not let the date 11 March 1990 go down in history with less importance than it deserves…

Aage Myhre
Editor