When addressing the Seimas sitting on this occasion, Viktoras Pranckietis, Speaker of the Seimas, stressed that the Treaty had marked the starting point for new people-to-people contacts between the two nations. ‘By signing the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good Neighbourly Cooperation in 1994, Lithuania and Poland opened up a new page in their long history of bilateral relations, which was full of both impressive achievements and painful losses. The Treaty inspired us to rediscover one another,’ said Mr Pranckietis. He highlighted that, in the extremely complex international circumstances with the Soviet army still present in our countries, our leaders, negotiators and diplomats had managed to find the things binding us rather than dividing and agree on the values to build our relations on in future, because it was simply a must to maintain the best relations possible.
In the context of the anniversaries of the Lithuanian and Polish membership of NATO and the EU, the Speaker of the Seimas called for continuing to set the most ambitious objectives. ‘We may assume that the most important goals have already been achieved. However, the history teaches us that we cannot let our guard down and that we must set the highest conceivable goals. Even if we fail to achieve everything at once, we should remember that we are partners and the future of our countries depends only on us,’ said Mr Pranckietis.
Stanisław Karczewski, Marshal of the Polish Senate, noted that the 1994 Treaty was frequently criticised as failing in enforcement and in guaranteeing the rights of Poles in Lithuania. He called for denying adversaries any instruments aimed at poisoning the Polish-Lithuanian relations. Bemoaning the remaining differences, Mr Karczewski urged Lithuania to address the issues related to education and spelling of names and surnames. He said that Lithuanian Poles neither could spell their names and surnames in their original form, nor use topographical names in their original Polish spelling, even though these rights were enjoyed by Lithuanians in Poland.
Česlovas Juršėnas, Signatory of the Act of Independence and former Speaker of the Seimas, recalled the context of drafting the Treaty and underlined that it had opened the doors wide for political, economic, commercial, cultural and other cooperation. ‘It made us more attractive to the Europe that was becoming more united and did not need two quarrelling neighbours. Soon after that, we both became members of the EU and NATO, although Poland’s membership of NATO came a few years earlier than ours. Moreover, our economic and commercial relations have expanded. We have since engaged in joint strategic projects,’ said Mr Juršėnas.
Andrius Kubilius, Head of the Seimas’ Provisional Group for 3 May, stated that this Treaty had given both Lithuanians and Poles an opportunity to overcome their historical psychological complexes. ‘It seems to me sometimes that Poland has managed to easier get rid of its historical psychological complexes. My intuition says that Lithuania is still waiting for its Giedroyc moment in order to also start again seeing our own historical identity in a considerably broader and more objective perspective. Therefore, members of the Seimas formed the Group for 3 May to help themselves regain this perspective. Probably only this wider perspective can bring a solution to the problem of the letter W,’ said Mr Kubilius.
Rita Tamašunienė, Chair of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance Political Group at the Seimas, expressed her belief that the provisions of the Treaty, both 25 years ago and currently, meant progress for both countries in bilateral relations in the areas of political and economic development, security, and mutual assistance and support on the regional and international political stage. She noted that the Treaty was the only legal act in force in Lithuania to specifically require both parties to ensure the rights of the Polish and Lithuanian minorities and adhere to the principles and standards of protection of national minority rights.
Ms Tamašunienė expressed her hope that ‘the 25th anniversary of the Treaty, celebrating mutual cooperation, friendly relations, shared priorities and goals of the two states, will not only mark a new phase of warming and newly recharged relations for the next five years, but also will reduce the burden of problems that have been dealt with for over a quarter of the century.’
