Lithuania’s Former President Valdas Adamkus was presented with the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star, a new award established by the Lithuanian parliament Seimas.
“I am very pleased that the award goes to President Valdas Adamkus in the first year it is presented,” Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the speaker of the Seimas, said before the ceremony. “His contribution to Lithuania’s security and Euro-Atlantic integration is enormous and cannot be overestimated.”
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the importance of Lithuania’s membership in NATO and the European Union, she added.
The Seimas established the award, named after Stulginskis, an interwar president of Lithuania, in 2020.
Adamkus was awarded the star for his “substantial contribution to the negotiations on Lithuania’s accession to NATO and the European Union, the major organisations of the community of Western nations”, the Seimas said in a press release.
Adamkus, who served as president of Lithuania in 1998–2003 and again in 2004–2009, said he was deeply touched by the award.
“Thank you for this honourable award, which I consider one of the most important in my life,” he said as he accepted the star at a ceremony in the parliament.
The former president also stressed that Lithuania is at the forefront of efforts to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
“I am proud that Lithuania is one of the leading countries supporting the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom,” he said. “I am confident that they will win it.”
The parliament has also granted the Aleksandras Stulginskis Star award to the US Senator Richard Joseph Durbin for his support to Lithuania “in its efforts to achieve and consolidate its independence and in its pursuit of international diplomatic recognition”. The award will be presented to him at a later date.
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