June 30. () –
The Lithuanian Parliament on Thursday recognized Vytautas Landsbergis as the first head of state in the country’s modern history, thus extolling his leading role in Lithuania’s independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990.
With this measure, the Baltic nation recognizes Landsbergis as its first president for more than three decades, a decision that has been criticized by some sectors of the opposition who consider that the first president was Algirdas Brazauskas, since he was “elected by the nation”.
The Lithuanian Parliament has thus given the ‘green light’ to this appointment with a large majority, therefore considering that Landsbergis had possession and made use of the powers of a president in March 1990 when, as president of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania , declared independence.
However, the opposition parties have pointed out that they will try to reverse the decision if at some point they manage to come to power after the parliamentary elections, scheduled for two years from now, according to the Lithuanian newspaper ‘Republika’.
In this way, although the opposition has criticized that the history of Lithuania is being rewritten, the Government has remained firm, emphasizing that the only purpose of the measure is to ratify a historical fact.
Landsbergis led the Lithuanian Parliament in its session on March 11, 1990, when it declared independence from the authorities of a Soviet Union that, shortly after, ratified its dissolution.
The historical political leader, now 89 years old, has been considered a hero of the Baltic nation, although the question of whether he should really be considered president has been the subject of a recurring debate, according to DPA.
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