President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė received letters of credence from Mr. Nguyen Hoang as the Ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Mr. Deepak Vohra as the Ambassador of the Republic of India.
President Dalia Grybauskaitė received Eastern European political business and public women leaders. The representatives of many different professions, politicians, lawyers, journalists, and NGO members gathered in Vilnius for a conference on women's leadership organized by the International Republican Institute and the Community of Democracies.
Stability, continuity and mutual respect have always constituted the very foundations of friendship between two countries. For Lithuania and the United States of America, these values were meaningfully imprinted in a milestone document issued seventy years ago today. On July 23, 1940, the then Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles made a declaration stating, resolutely and uncompromisingly, to the world that America did not recognize de jure and de facto the occupation and annexation of Lithuania and the other Baltic States.
Your Excellency President Bronisław Komorowski, Your Excellency Sejm Marshal Grzegorz Schetyna, Mr. President of Kraków, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is here at this very impressive Monument to the Battle of Žalgiris that, on behalf of the Lithuanian people, I send my greetings and congratulations to our sister nation of Poland on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of our joint historic victory.
This is the fourth convention which has brought you together in Vilnius. I know that for you such meetings are intensive working sessions: you not only exchange information about the work done, but share ideas and inspiration for fresh initiatives. I would say that this is the best time for new beginnings.
Today we celebrate a very special date in the history of our nation - July 6 - which marks the beginning of Lithuanian statehood. More than seven hundred years ago, Lithuania united under a crown. It was a resolute step made by the Baltic tribes led by Mindaugas on the international arena of those times. It made Lithuania stronger, protected her from enemies who from then on had to speak with us in the language of diplomacy, not the threat of war.
