Opinions

The economic argument is over -
Paul Krugman won
Lithuania’s former prime minister, Andrius Kubilius (left) is a staunch austerity advocate - for those who want to cut spending to reduce deficits and "restore confidence."

"Stimulus" spending, Paul Krugman (right) argues, would help reduce unemployment and prop up economic growth until the private sector heals itself and begins to spend again.

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The world is about to
discover Lithuania!
Until recently, Vilnius was often called Europe's best kept secret. Very few knew that here lies one of the world's best-preserved cultural treasures, namely Eastern Europe’s largest and most attractive old town. Few knew that Vilnius is considered the world's most Italian city outside Italy and the world’ most Baroque city north of the Alps. This is now changing rapidly. The world population has become aware of both the city and the country and the number of travelers here is the sharp increase.

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Now, five years later, they still talk about the wonderful experience they had in Lithuania
My wife and I usually travel with friends from Germany. We decided to go to Lithuania and asked our German friends if they would like to go with us. They were hesitant, but did agree to go. We took a private tour of the country, starting and ending in Vilnius. After 8 days we returned to Germany and talked about our experience. They told me their reluctance came from their experience in other ex-soviet countries, which was not good.

They were very surprised at the beauty of Vilnius, and the other places we visited. Everything they saw and experienced there was positive, and, now, five years later, they still talk about the wonderful experience they had there. Our tour was inexpensive, the hotels first class, the food wonderful, the beer out of this world, and the variety of other drinks was simply world class. I will never forget this trip, as my friends also will not. I would highly recommend Lithuania as a must see for any traveler.

Bernard Terway

Lithuania’s best future lies in a Nordic union
“Russia can turn the lights out on Lithuania and the other two Baltic states any time it pleases. And they can't turn them back on without Russia’s permission. Not only does this small, central European nation, as well as its neighbors Latvia and Estonia, not have access to the Russian owned-switch, but, to a large extent, it also depends on energy supplies from Russia to power its electricity generating plants; power that is needed for energy and economic independence.  Lithuania as well as the other Baltic countries, being poor in energy resources, are facing a tough future and are seeking solutions.”

This was what Dr. Stan Backaitis wrote here in VilNews in 2011. We have also published articles stating that Lithuania’s dependence on Russia, to a certain degree also EU, should be reduced. We have stated that the neighbours to the north in many cases would be much more attractive partners.
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Bravo!
I heartily agree
Aage 
Bravo! I heartily agree. In pondering the often sad history of Lithuania I seem to always come to the conclusion that a small country like Lithuania needs to come to some close relationship with some combination of neighbors in order to gain long term stability and security. The Grand Duchy was probably the best example.

Today, association with NATO and the EU has gone far to secure a degree of that security and prosperity but with the various issues in Europe and even questionable engagement of the US, something deeper must be developed.

Scandinavia seems to be, and in fact has evolved as a strengthening partner and role model which I think many Lithuanians probably accept.

Not to take away from other efforts and positive, even close, relations with other neighbors (Poland, even Russia), closeness with Scandinavia and emulation of its institutions would serve Lithuania well.

Rimantas Aukstuolis

Soviet remnants
in Lithuania

The green Soviet
bridge in Vilnius

The Green Bridge sculpture "Industry and Construction (Pramonė ir statyba)" by Bronius Vyšniauskas and Napoleonas Petrulis. Photos: Aage Myhre.

The Green Bridge (Lithuanian: Žaliasis tiltas) is a bridge over the Neris River in Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the oldest bridge in the city and connects city centre with the so-called right river bank and the Kalvariju g that leads to several of the city’s Soviet suburbs north of the city centre.

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As long as they are not glorifying one of the tyrants
Jurate Kutkus Burns As long as they are not glorifying one of the tyrants, these statues should stay.
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The sculptures serve a concrete purpose -- to remind us that that this past was far from rosy
Justinas V. Daugmaudis I would not call these sculptures as "soviet remnants". Doing so simply shows that the person fails to understand the context. The sculptures are the authentic artifacts of the time not so long past, and they serve a concrete purpose -- to remind us that that this past was far from rosy (and that we do not want a repeat of it). One must never forget, lest one lives in a dream that is disconnected from (sometimes stark) reality.

Europe, in general, is different from the US. We like our reminders, and we like things old. We like those reminders even if they are not too pleasant.
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I would like to see these 2 balvonai drown in Neris
Julius van Cerniauskas "Europe, in general, is different from the US. We like our reminders, and we like things old. We like those reminders even if they are not too pleasant."

no we dont. I would like to see these 2 balvonai drown in Neris.

experts say that the statue badly needs repairs. i think it doesnt. it needs to start dropping in pieces just like USSR did. WHAT A SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE WOULD THAT BE!!!
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You dislike the USSR, but so do I; as much forcefully, in fact. Still, it is OUR history
Justinas V. Daugmaudis You don't understand that Vilnius is replete with the artifacts of the past generations. You dislike the USSR, but so do I; as much forcefully, in fact. Still, it is OUR history. We have persevered, whilst the USSR -- despite all of its might -- did not. Consider the sculptures as a token of sadistic glee, if you want.
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If Nazis erected a statue for Adolf during their short occupation of LT, should we have kept it too?
Julius van Cerniauskas 
if Nazis erected a statue for Adolf during their short occupation of LT, should we have kept it too? lets return Lenin's statue to Lukiskiu aikste as well? why not? fact is.. this statue annoys many people. thats all. it should be moved to Grutas park where all history masochists can enjoy themselves to their hearts content. I believe Germans had a fair amount of "artifacts" from their Nazi era too. I guess that not many(if any) of them were left in public places.
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There is a quiet but defineable determination within the German psyche to visit the places where the madness was spawned and to understand it
Justinas V. Daugmaudis Nothing could be more further from truth, my dear Julius. The German acceptance, and sometime embrace, of its monstrous past is seen as a sign of maturity by historians and academics. (Not so long ago record numbers of German television viewers tuned in to a domestically made documentary on the Holocaust, a programme unthinkable just a few years ago.)

Buildings used by the officers at the notorious female concentration camp of Ravensbruck -- where Anne Frank died along with as many as 92000 other female and child inmates including the British SOE agent Violette Szabo -- are being CONVERTED into a youth hostel and an educational institute. NOT DEMOLISHED! Eight of the 23 former SS guardhouses have been converted to cater for an estimated 13,000 visitors each year. This conversion project is one of the latest in which many of the Third Reich's most infamous sites have been transformed into tourism or leisure venues as Germany seeks to draw a line under its past. Germans themselves are queuing up for a glimpse of a time that has been buried beneath layers of guilt, uncertainty and shame.

I would agree that Hitler and his legacies will never beat Euro Disney as the holiday destination of choice. Still, there is a quiet but defineable determination within the German psyche to visit the places where the madness was spawned and to understand it.

Ravensbruck is but one Nazi site among many that has been or is about to be transformed for "educational tourism". After the war many buildings which represented the monstrosity of National Socialism were destroyed. The Allies had a dual motive for this: to erase the memory of Nazism and to prevent "shrines" developing in the future -- an idea that persisted for decades. Nowadays, this rampant post-war destruction is considered to be a "barbarian" -- albeit "understandable" -- act, as it was not known better at the time.

The Berghof, Hitler's mountain home in Bavaria, was destroyed in 1945 as was Spandau prison in the late 1980s after the last inmate, Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess, died. In the past year, however, many other sites of importance in the Third Reich have become the magnets of educational tourism. 

What you have to understand, my dear Julius, is that Nazi artifacts themselves are becoming public places. Not because there is any love left for Nazis, but simply because to remember means not to repeat. 

Now, as for Hitler's statues -- they were removed. The same was done with Lenin's (and other so-called leaders') statues in Lithuania. The statues on the Green bridge are not even in the same category, for they do not enshrine any concrete person that would symbolize the oppressive regime.

Your suggestion to remove the statues on the Green bridge (along with other artifacts, no?) simply means that you want to cut out 50 years of occupation from the memory of people. An exceedingly shallow idea, because it's also the memory of our own people, of our own country. Besides, why do you feel so fixated on these statues? Why don't you 

suggest to burn the books written during the reign of the regime? Why don't you suggest to bring down buildings? National Opera and Ballet Theater is a perfect example of -- then award winning -- soviet architecture, and it is much more visible than those aforementioned statues, too. Yet you keep silent about those other cultural artifacts. It is likely that the reason is simple -- you don't even think about them. (It is hard to think when you are simply parroting the same shallow categorical ideas that were spread by some not-too-clever journalists that don't even have any proper education. Big mouth leaves little place for brain.) 

Summa summarum, when you are blind to many other (too subtle?) cultural artifacts of the regime, then if those statues on the Green bridge make you think and feel strongly about the USSR, this means that the statues serve their purpose.
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Removing the statue will not erase the history, and there is no need to do that
Viktorija Ruškulienė Art often represents not only the regime (in this particular case - Soviet occupation), but also culture, fashion, historical moment, influences of social/environmental/political ideas, mentality of that time. Removing the statue will not erase the history, and there is no need to do that. I prefer this peace with two workers much better to the peace of early independence "Vamzdis…


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  KNOCK IT DOWN!!
Timotiejus Sevelis KNOCK IT DOWN!!
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I always thought it was the old soviet heating & water supply system...
Siga Eidukonis It's ART!!! and I always thought it was the old soviet heating & water supply system... Aciu, Viktorija Ruškulienė...good info!
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Create the bright future that was intended!!
Timotiejus Sevelis forget the shitty past, move on, and create the bright future that was intended!!
 

Making Bullets:
Take One California Girl add a Lithuanian Revolution and Stir
https://vilnews.com/?p=18866

Read the fascinating story of Daiva Venckus, written by our Associate Editor Vin Karnila.

Vin Karnila: Daiva Venckus has been writing a very exciting book about her experiences from those early days of the 1990s. After reading the first chapter I am sure that your next thought will be the same as mine:

Where can I get this book???

Well, this is the bad news – You can’t get it..

I’m not in the publishing business so I have absolutely no idea as to the logic these people use but I’ll try to put it in a nut shell and then let you figure it out. Daiva has shown her book to a number of publishers in the USA. Their reaction was – THEY LIKED IT!!!

So why don’t they publish it???

Their logic is this, they don’t want to publish a book that will basically be a one shot deal. They want to publish a book that will be followed by other books based on the same theme/topic.

What is even more puzzling and even exasperating is that she offered the book to a number of publishing companies here in Lithuania and they were completely unresponsive. For a Lithuanian company to be unresponsive is unfortunately not uncommon but for the life of me I don’t understand why a Lithuanian publisher would not be interested in a book that can be published in Lithuanian for the home market and in English for the worldwide market. There are very few books published here in Lithuania that have the potential be popular in the world wide market and when one is presented to a Lithuanian publisher there is no response – You figure it out???

Dears readers, if any of you are in the publishing industry or if any of you can understand this logic of not publishing a book you think is good because you want to have more books on the same topic to follow it please explain this all to me because this logic totally escapes me??????
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My advice would be to self-publish as an online book
Roe
I worked with Daiva's dad long ago, so knew her mom, and dad, since she was a baby. Back in 1991, her mom kept me up to date with Daiva's travel to Lithuania and her participation in the effort to kick out the Russians. We were happy to learn she was able to stay safe and return to the USA with a sense of accomplishment in an historic event. Insofar as publishing, I am aware the industry is fickle and always finds room to print trash like romance novels. My advice would be to self-publish as an online book - a friend recently took that approach, and it completely circumvents the publisher roadblocks. Also, by the way, a book on history is not "one of a series" as was told to Daiva, for example the Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin is a one-off. Yes, Goodwin wrote other books, but not on the same topic. So another suggestion would be to find out who publishes history books, and stay away firms that publish items such as the Hobbit.
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Print the book, we need it especially nowadays for the younger generations who don't know what real tyranny can be
Ted
Heard the stories from my grandparents who came to America. They told stories of relatives who were left behind and suffered under the communist rule. My grandparents hoped for a free Lithuania but never really thought the Russians would leave short of a 3rd World War. Print the book, we need it especially now a days for the younger generations who don't know what real tyranny can be. Ruta Sepetys book "Shades of Gray" was a one shot presentation on Lithuania and it was a hit. Print the book, we need more encouragement fto love or our Lithuanian Heritage.
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Excellent article, Vincas! Daiva's story is full of amazing details of what was happening during the Lithuanian fight for re-independence! Her story is gripping and everyone needs to hear it. So many secrets in history revealed in her tales. The time is now because this generation needs to learn what happened in Lithuania so we can teach our children. History like this should never repeat itself!
Rima Raulinaitis

Vytis tail up or
Vytis tail down?



Rimgaudas Vidziunas
‎*Question* Vytis tail up or Vytis tail down? Have you ever noticed? Can anyone answer the symbolism? Thank you...


Irene Simanavicius Hmmmm..scratching my chin. The one I have at home the tail is down. what does it mean?


Frank Passic Even horses have to relieve themselves....


Darius Udrys Quick! Who can think of a discussion that would be an even bigger waste of time?


Darius Udrys Quick! Who can say something even more bathetic?


Darius Udrys Quick! Who should consult a dictionary?


Darius Udrys Who made you the boss of the internet?


Darius Udrys http://www.balsas.lt/m/naujiena/572579

Lietuvos žvaigždelės ir krūvelės | Balsas.lt mobili versija
www.balsas.lt
Šįmet kalbėta, kad statinys labai svarbus – juk Lietuva 2013 metų antroje pusėje pirmininkaus Europos Sąjungai (ES).


Bernard Terway Darius - what kind of a point are you trying to make? Your comments are simply stupid. I can think of something more "bathetic" in a split second. That is you.


Darius Udrys Oh, what wit! It's been a while since I've heard one from the "yo mama" series of rejoinders.


Merry Kay Aldonis I learned that whenever you see an elephant with his tail up, it meant either good luck or something very strong and vigor about it.


Merry Kay Aldonis I have a Lithuanian/English Dictiionary, but it does not say anything about tail


Virginia Pudinas Schoenfeld It's the elephants trunk Merry Kay. Not his tail. I think the tail on the horse just depends on the artists mood.


Merry Kay Aldonis Virginia Pudinas Shoenfeld you are ABSOLUTELY Correct!!


Merry Kay Aldonis In penmanship and writing analysis, they used to say that if you ended sentences or signatures with the last letter curving upward, always meant more of a positive nature.


Vytas Levickis After Independence there was confusion in Lithuania when the Vytis was depicted with the tail down. Now officially the Vytis has its tail up. This is the opposite to the Belarus Pahonia, the official coat of arms of Belarus from 1991 to 1995, which is nearly identical to the Vytis, but has its tail down. Both depict a charging knight on horseback


Darius Udrys My coworker says that in high school her history teacher made them discuss this issue and it was even a question on the test. Super. Next, why don't we discuss whether the left rear hoof should be ahead of or behind the right one?


Vijole Arbas then there is the question of the angle at which the knight holds his head high.

11 March 1990, the day Lithuania woke up from its 50 year nightmare
Lithuania’s independence declaration of 11 March 1990 was signed by wise and courageous political leaders who did not want to accept that their beloved homeland should remain occupied. They deserve our respect and gratitude!

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Judita Gliauberzonaite 
Please, don't exaggerate - it wasn't all a nightmare. 
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Vytautas Sliupas
Dear Judita you look so young in your picture, maybe too young to remember the nightmare.
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Evaldas Zvinys 
Judita - I understand what you are saying. But IMHO you might hurt some people's feelings: by analogy someone could say that a Nazi or a Gulag camp was not all a nightmare - but normally people just do not say that. Su Švente!
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Vijole Arbas
I laud all our brave patriots who are not afraid to live in their own country and build it to its potential.
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Jenifer C. Dillis
"Lietuva! Lietuva! Lietuva!"
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Aage Myhre 
You know, Judita Gliauberzonaite, it was after the 11 March event in the Lithuanian Parliament in 1990 that I first became aware that my home country Norway had a forgotten neighbouring country called Lithuania. In the summer of 1990 I had my first ever encounter with Lithuanians, and in November that same year I came here for the first time. I met many of those who had signed the Declaration of Freedom 11 March and was impressed with their determination, but also the significant nervousness they felt in the months leading up to the Soviet Union's disastrous assault against Lithuania in January 1991. I maintain that this was, and is, people who deserve our thanks and respect!
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Petter Kinn 
As you know, dearest Aage Myhre, we were also rather early! I agree with you!
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Irene Simanavicius 
joyous.
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Warren Thompson 
Back in the USSR??? JOKIU BUDU!
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Boris Bakunas When I was young, I thought I would never live to see that day. Now believe anything is possible. And when it comes to defending liberty, that goes double for Lithuanians. After all, we've had over a thousand years of practice.

I met a smiling wood carver at this year’s Kaziuko Mugė

KAZIUKO MUGĖ PEOPLE

Aage Myhre I do not have too much interest in the commodities on KAZIUKO MUGE, but the people in front and behind the sale counters are phenomenally attractive ... People from town and country around all of Lithuania who spent day after day over the past year to do carpentry, sewing, forging iron art, making pottery ...
The Kaziuoko Muge people are sooo special... You simply have to love them all...


Ruta Musonis I agree. That's why I love viewing your photos. 


Carol Luschas Great picture!


Aldona Onalfo Aage, you take beautiful pictures! Keep taking them!!! I enjoy seeing them.


Nellie Vin o so wonderful


Jenifer C. Dillis Great smile!


Elizabeth Hunt This guy looks like he is from Middle Earth by the way he is dressed.

KAZIUKO MUGĖ 2013
https://vilnews.com/?p=12193 __________________________ Viktorija Ruškulienė Thank you for these beautiful pictures. I wish I was there...

My Užupis love story (slide show with music). Click HERE to see it.
Užupis is the bohemian district of Vilnius city. The district is very popular with artists, and has been compared to Montmartre in Paris and to Freetown Christiania in Copenhagen, due to its never-mind atmosphere. On April 1, 1997, the district declared itself an independent republic (The Republic of Užupis).
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That would be where I would live. When I was there, I felt right at home
Irene Simanavicius Oh Lovely Uzupis..a stroll through Uzupis is nothing less than enjoyable. Curious nooks and crannies hide artwork or unexpected gardens. I wandered into shops selling artistic goods or the 100-year-old pharmacy that still supplies patrons with cough medicine and bandages. I sat by the café near the river to relax with a cup of coffee and a bulkute. When I crossed one of the bridges leading to or from Uzupis, you’ll see love locks clustered on the railings and if the weather is good, you may even catch a new bride and groom having their photos taken among the crumbling bricks and colorful graffiti so characteristic of the district. The most noticeable feature of the main square is the trumpet-blowing bronze angel sculpture on its column. This sculpture replaced the large stone egg that previously stood as a symbol for Uzupis in 2002 and has subsequently become a symbol associated with Uzupis. ~ That would be where I would live. When I was there, I felt right at home.