President: Lithuania's history is eternal and unbroken

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda reflected on the nation's enduring spirit, stating that its history, marked by profound pain and tragedy, is ultimately a story of hope and continuity. Speaking on June 14, Lithuania's Day of Mourning and Hope, he acknowledged the immense suffering endured by the Lithuanian people.

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We would like to comprehend, embrace, to encompass with our hands the pain that people are going through. But today, this is no longer just the pain of individual families, not just the stories of individual families, but it is becoming one great page of Lithuanian history. And a page of history, without a doubt, is tragic, but at the same time we call this page a page of hope, because it allows us to turn a page in the book of free Lithuania and write into it our history, the history of our generation, the history of our Lithuania.

"We would like to comprehend, embrace, to encompass with our hands the pain that people are going through," Nausėda told journalists. "But today, this is no longer just the pain of individual families, not just the stories of individual families, but it is becoming one great page of Lithuanian history. And a page of history, without a doubt, is tragic, but at the same time we call this page a page of hope, because it allows us to turn a page in the book of free Lithuania and write into it our history, the history of our generation, the history of our Lithuania."

The president's remarks came on the eve of Occupation and Genocide Day, observed on June 15, which commemorates the start of the Soviet Union's occupation of Lithuania on June 15, 1940, and the first mass deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia on June 14, 1941. During the Soviet occupation, over 30,000 people were deported in cattle cars, and Lithuania lost approximately 800,000 inhabitants in total. Around 300,000 people suffered the horrors of the communist regime, facing imprisonment, labor camps, and exile.

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I very much hope that this page will be much brighter, much more optimistic.

Nausėda expressed his hope that the current chapter of Lithuania's history will be "much brighter, much more optimistic." He acknowledged that future challenges and dangers may arise, but asserted that Lithuanians will write their future "with a firm hand," knowing their goals and leaving a legacy for future generations. "Lithuania is eternal, and despite the nature of its individual periods, however sad and tragic they may be, they always give hope that this continuity of history will be eternal," he concluded.

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Lithuania is eternal, and despite the nature of its individual periods, however sad and tragic they may be, they always give hope that this continuity of history will be eternal.