| Yesterday, the Lithuanian Seimas at a plenary session adopted a statement in which it called on Russia to cooperate in the investigation of the events of January 13, 1991 in Vilnius. 15 years ago, Soviet military units using tanks, armored vehicles and firearms stormed the Vilnius TV tower and the building of the Lithuanian Radio and Television. These objects were defended by civilians. As a result of the clash, 14 townspeople were killed and hundreds of unarmed people were injured.
Only a few leaders of the Lithuanian Communist Party were responsible for those events - just today the prison term of the former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania Mykolas Burokevičius expires. Most of the military, as well as members of the Lithuanian riot police, fled to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. But the Russian authorities do not respond to Lithuania’s demands to find and hand over to it persons from the list of 25 wanted “state criminals.”
A dispute between parliamentarians flared up over the tone in which reproaches should be made against Russia. The opposition, led by conservatives, composed a text full of indignation and emotion. It was announced at the morning meeting, and parliamentarians seemed to be going to support these tough statements.
But the Foreign Affairs Committee, together with the Speaker of the Seimas Arturas Paulauskas, prepared a softened version. In it, the Russian side is called to “restore historical justice” and help “by legal means the peoples of the two countries forget about previous discord.” This statement was read at the evening meeting and was adopted by a small margin.
Hardliners want to return to voting on their project next week. There is a formal basis for this - after all, they proposed not a statement, but a resolution addressed to the Russian State Duma. It contains a call to influence the government of the Russian Federation to complete the work begun. The text specifically mentions the former editor of the Soviet Lithuania radio station, Stanislav Mickiewicz, who is hiding in Russia - he is hated for his ideological work in defending the Soviet system in Lithuania.
Not hoping for a response from Moscow, opposition leader Andrius Kubilius demanded at government hour in the Sejm yesterday that the authorities turn to the EU for help. To this, Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas said that these issues are within the competence of legal institutions, not the government. Vladimir SKRIPOV, Vilnius
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