"This is a day of celebration not only for 400 million of Americans, but also for all those who perceive close relations with the United States as very significant. Among them are nearly one million Lithuanian Americans as well as several million people of our country who well remember the support extended by the United States to Lithuania as it regained independence and later on as it embarked on the road to the North Atlantic Alliance," the President wrote in her message of congratulations.

The President underlined that Lithuania and the United States are today linked not only by close bilateral relations, but also by active cooperation in NATO. Therefore, Lithuania is determined to continue strengthening the dialogue on security, defense and economic matters - a dialogue which speaks of the achievements successfully attained in the past several years. She expressed her hope that during Lithuania's EU Presidency wide-ranging cooperation between the European Union and the United States would grow even stronger.