OPINIONS

Have your say. Send to:
editor@VilNews.com

• 
  
  Greetings from Great Britain:
  Lietuva is the best country in all the world for four reasons:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Read more...
   
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• Comments to our article 'Look to Norway'

  http://vilnews.com/?p=5843
  
  
  
  "During my visit to Lithuania in January 1991, while the Soviet troops surrounded the Parliament and the TV tower in Vilnius, our Norwegian delegation brought with us a letter from Oslo's mayor confirming that Oslo was ready to be Vilnius' first sister city in the west. Later, many Lithuanian and Norwegian cities, municipalities and counties have established friendship agreements. But in most cases only with words, little action."
  Aage Myhre

  
• And that was how things started during the collapse of the USSR and the dawn of Lithuanian freedom!

  
  
  I was invited to serve as the economic reform expert (actually to lead the effort) by The International Baltic Economic Survey Commission, a "blue ribbon" advisory formed by the Swedish PM Mats Karlsson; we worked out of the Swedish PM Office with very frequent travel for field work to the Baltics, esp. Estonia and Latvia in my case.
  However, the Lithuanian reforms were since 1992 effectively hijacked (using the brainwashed, Sovietized older voters, esp. vulnerable to propagation of the Soviet kolkhozes by Brazauskas, etc) by the Soviet nomenklatura for a reason: to create a Russian/Latin American style oligarchic, mafia-style system that would fully allow bolsheviks to continue rent-extracting policies (A. Kruger and M. Voslensky term) and to rule Lithuania for the nomenklatura benefit (beggaring the people of course) long after the USSR collapse as they obviously did with minor exceptions since, almost totally excluding younger (nationally and Western minded) generations from any governance roles in the society and brutally driving them to leave the country.
  Valdas Samonis

  
• The same people who were used to the Soviet style of thinking and work ethic kept their jobs, even if they were doing nothing or even doing harm

  
  Former president and prime minister of Lithuania, Algirdas Brazauskas. who died last year
  
  The idea is excellent, but the problem is that the majority of the people in the positions where the change could be initiated were from the Soviet times. The fact that Brazauskas was really good at public relations and was able to retain his power for so long meant that the same people who were used to the Soviet style of thinking and work ethic kept their jobs, even if they were doing nothing or even doing harm. To them, changing the way how things are done meant undermining their own position, so of course they did nothing.
  
  My hope is that with time the things will clean up, and these changes will occur. It will take time, though.
  Tautietis

  
• Greetings from Venezuela!

  Dear Mr. Aage Myhre:
  
  Kindest regards from Venezuela! First of all, let me introduce myself: my name is Vytenis Folkmanas and I'm writing you from Venezuela. As you might realize from my name, I'm son of a Lithuanian emigrant who arrived with his parents and sister to Venezuela in 1948. I'm very proud of my Lithuanian heritage and actually I'm the President of the Lithuanian Community of Venezuela, in an effort to rescue the traditions, customs, and language within our small community.
  
  I'm also very happy to be one of the worldwide privileged receiving VILNEWS. Right now, I've just finished reading your wonderful article "LOOK TO NORWAY" and it makes me sadder because I compare it to what is happening here in our country Venezuela and find a similar situation. Although our country could be one of the richest countries in the world just thanks to oil income, the internal situation doesn't reflect it AT ALL!!! I think that it couldn't be worse!! As you mention the situation with Lithuania and how Norway has tried to help them, here is the same. Our country is seeking help and support from countries as Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Libya, and China in economic, social, energetic, tourism and industrial topics instead of from developed countries. Just with the tourism, Venezuela could gain the same or more income than with the oil production, as we have one of the most blessed countries, geographically speaking, in the world, but our governments have always been blind to this industry (tourism)...That is just a small example. How I wish that they could see the example of Norway, Finland, and other countries, especially if they offer their cooperation. Here we say that is a "false pride" not to receive support and advice from others!
  
  And speaking of Lithuania, is also true , specially the comment of Mr Sliupas when he wrote:
  
  "One of my American colleagues, who was sincerely trying to help Lithuania, said "Sending e-mail to Lithuania is like sending it to the black hole of the universe. Everything goes one way and nothing comes back". That is so true. I myself wrote emails to Lithuania, to the ministries, etc offering to help them promote Lithuania as a tourist destination here in Venezuela, as here is almost as unknown country and never had no answer at all. Is very sad, and I love everything what Lithuania means.
  
  Once again, thank you very much for sending me your VILNEWS, many regards and I remain here at your disposition!
  
  Vytenis Folkmanas

  
• Listen to Scandinavian advice, not arrogantly assuming that we the Lithuanians know best

  
  
  Hello Aage
  I have just read the latest edition of VilNews, thank you for another good job. I agree with your editorial comments. In particular: "Being a Norwegian, I believe Norway and the other Scandinavian countries would have been willing to stretch to great lengths to provide help and advice for the crisis–hit Lithuania and the two other Baltic States. But they had to be asked. Our Lithuanian leaders should refrain from arrogance and avoid ignorance by seeking advice where good help and advice is to be found, domestically and internationally. Can they do that, there is every reason to foresee a bright future for this nation."
  
  I have two comments to make on that. First, I believe that even now it's not too late to ask the Scandinavian countries for help. But you are exactly right: the Scandinavian countries would want in return a guarantee that whatever help they give will be used wisely, listen to Scandinavian advice, not arrogantly assuming that we the Lithuanians know best. Closely linked to this is the second thing: no one wants to give help if they think it's going to be wasted corruptly. Lithuanians need to be able to give the Scandinavian aid-givers a chance to supervise what is going on, the right to inspect and audit, to make sure that the aid is being used as agreed, and not to build the villas of mafiozai and corrupt politicians and public servants on land that they have misappropriated from public forests and lakefronts.
  
  Which brings me back to my key theme (sorry if I'm repetitious): Lithuania will not make much serious progress until bigger efforts are made to stamp out bribery and corruption.
  
  Gintautas Kaminskas
  Wollongong, Australia

  

Easier to obtain an audience with the pope, than with a minister for foreign affairs of Lithuania

You have lived long enough in Lithuania and must realize that many of the problems of the present day Lithuania are due to their reluctance to learn from the Western countries or accept advice from Lithuanians who lived and studied in the West. The relative success of Lithuania after World War I was largely due to the replacement of Russian educated officials by those who got their degrees in the West. My own father was the first Lithuanian with a degree in forestry from a Western university and introduced major reforms in the forest management, which survived even during the Communist occupation.

Alas, after 20 years of restoration of independence to paraphrase Kipling "The East is East, the West is West and the twain shall never (so far) meet". I spoke to a number of Lithuanians with degrees from top Western universities, who don't want to return to Lithuania - according to them, the "natives" know everything better.

I might add that for me it was easier to obtain an audience with the Pope, than with a Minister for Foreign Affairs of Lithuania.

Ambassador Algirdas Žemaitis, Vilnius – Rome

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