Speeches

Remarks by President Dalia Grybauskaitė at State Dinner in Norway

Your Majesties,
Your Royal Highnesses,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen!

I am very pleased to be visiting your beautiful country. It offers an exceptional opportunity to consolidate cooperation ties between Norway and Lithuania and to open the doors of friendship between our two nations even wider. I want to thank you so much for your hospitality.

Your Majesty,

This year Lithuania and Norway are marking the twentieth anniversary of diplomatic relations. It is not only a memorable day in the calendar of our joint diplomatic work, but also part of our shared history. The Nordic countries were the first to unwavering recognize our re-established independence. I would like to assure you all that the people of Lithuania will never forget it and will always view it as a token of sincere friendship and support extended at a time of vital importance for our nation.

Lithuania is grateful that you were together with us when we celebrated the Millennium of Lithuania. Your visit to Vilnius on July 6, 2009, was a meaningful sign of friendship to the Lithuanian people.

The attention and support given by your country to Lithuania encourages our people to learn more about Norway and to discover it as a country of active stand in security and foreign policy matters, a reliable business partner, and a nation of ancient culture, inspiring music, literature, and arts. Working together, our people get to know each other better. Mutual understanding is further deepened by art exhibitions, concert performances, theater tours - all of which has long ago become an integral part of the cultural life of our countries. The Lithuanian stage director Oskaras Koršunovas is most probably just as popular in Norway as he is at home, and the Norwegian choreographer Jo Stromgren is just as much loved by Lithuanian audiences. We are proud that we can enjoy the meaningful fruits of our cultural cooperation.

Lithuanian society greatly admires Norwegian values: respect for individual rights which goes together with responsibility to society and the state. The deep-rooted respectful and caring relationship between the state and the citizen is a valuable example to Lithuania. The creation of a dynamic and open civil society offers us yet another excellent opportunity to strengthen cooperation between our countries.

The Nordic direction is a priority on Lithuania's foreign policy agenda. It was put there by the interests of the Lithuanian people who, together with the people of Norway, carry out joint business, cultural and social education projects, who find a new home in Norway or just take inspiration in the land of Edvard Grieg, Edvard Munch and Henrik Ibsen.

Your Majesty,

I raise this glass to your health and to the health of Queen Sonja, to successful cooperation between Norway and Lithuania, and to the well-being and prosperity of our two nations!