"The democratic peace theory says that democracies do not go to war with each other. Therefore we, Lithuania, with more than half a century of experience of occupation and authoritarian regime, greatly cherish our freedom and the fact of belonging to the family of democratic states for 25 years and we want to see democratic states around us," said the Seimas Speaker during the debate "Placing Democracy at the Service of Peace and Sustainable Development: Building the World the People Want."
Besides, the leader of the parliament emphasized that conflicts resulting in human casualties had to remain in the focus of world parliaments with democratic states taking immediate measures to implement justice.
Furthermore, the Seimas Speaker and other leaders of world parliaments discussed the difficult situation in Ukraine, losses incurred and problems confronted by civilians. Mrs Graužinienė expressed her respect to Ukrainian women who greatly assisted in the Maidan protests.
As a final point, the leader of the parliament invited the international community and institutions, particularly the United Nations, to support more actively Ukraine's aspirations for freedom and its right to self-determination to follow the European path.
The Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament was held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 31 August to 2 September. It discussed the most important achievements, current challenges and possibilities for parliaments.
While in the United States, the Seimas Speaker also took part in the Tenth Meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament, and had bilateral talks with Sumitra Mahajan, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Republic of India), and Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, Speaker of the Knesset (State of Israel). In a bilateral meeting, Mrs Graužinienė invited Saber Chowdhury, IPU President, to visit Lithuania. Finally, the leader of the parliament visited the 9/11 Memorial and met with Lithuanians residing in the US.
