CONDEMNATION OF VANDALISM ACTS AGAINST JEWISH HEADQUARTERS IN VILNIUS
PRESIDENT HAS CONDEMNED ACTS OF VANDALISM AGAINST JEWISH HEADQUARTERS AND CALLED THEM PROVOCATION AGAINST LITHUANIA
11.08.2008
Monday, August 11, Vilnius – President of the Republic of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus has condemned the acts of vandalism committed against Lithuania‘s and Vilnius‘s Jewish community headquarters, and calls on law-and-order and special services of the country to identify the organisers and the perpetrators of these acts immediately.
“Contempt targeted at the nation which has suffered from genocide is not casual hooliganism. It is a destructive and sordid act against Lithuania as a whole, not only Lithuania's Jewish community. I underline that there is no, and will never be, room for hatred and instigation of discord in Lithuanian society. I have no doubt the organisers and perpetrators of the act will be identified and punished.
At the time when the traditions of tolerance and respect for human rights are being consolidated in Lithuania and when Lithuania is helping other states to consolidate freedom and democratic values, I consider such disreputation of our country a harsh provocation against Lithuania.
I call on all people of Lithuania to be intolerant to the instigation of hatred whatever form it may take. It is only through our joint efforts and strong condemnation of instigation of intolerance that we can create a safe, open and European-like Lithuania of the twenty-first century,“ says Lithuania‘s President.
H.E. Mr. Valdas Adamkus, President of the Republic of Lithuania
11.08.2008
Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas sharply condemned the acts of vandalism when swastikas and other offensive signs were sprayed on Saturday night, on the walls of the Jewish community centre in Vilnius. “Lithuanian citizens of Jewish origin have substantially contributed to the fame of our native country. The Holocaust tragedy during the war years should remind us all how disastrous the policy of racial and ethnic hatred can be. The so-called patriots smearing the anti-Semitic epithets on the walls or swamping the web with racist phrases in reality hate Lithuania and damage the country and its people”, the Lithuanian Prime Minister said.
On Monday, Rimantas Šadžius, Lithuanian Minister of Finance and Acting Prime Minister during Gediminas Kirkilas‘ summer holidays, made a phone call to Simonas Alperavičius, chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish community, and expressed his solidarity with the community concerning the malicious attack. In quick response to the act of vandalism, R. Šadžius called upon Police Commissioner General Vizgirdas Telyčėnas, requesting to investigate the incident and find the perpetrators of the attack as soon as possible. The police are now conducting its investigation in close cooperation with other law enforcement institutions that have come across similar incidents before.
Government Press Office
STATEMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF LITHUANIA REGARDING THE ACTS OF VANDALISM
12-08-2008
We condemn the acts of vandalism against the Lithuanian and Vilnius Jewish community’s headquarters. Such scorn of the Jewish nation, which for many centuries lived friendly, created and famed Lithuania for many centuries, and is still proclaiming its name in the world, such scorn of the nation which survived the terror of Holocaust, is also the humiliation of the whole of Lithuania and its people. The perpetrators of these acts should be immediately identified and punished.
‘I would like to express my solidarity with the Jewish community in Lithuania and to urge all Lithuanian people to join me. Let’s respect each other, let’s respect ourselves and the state we live in. We cannot tolerate the instigation of national hatred in our country, which is a multicultural country and in which people of various religions, cultures and traditions live down the ages,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas.
In Lithuania ethnic communities are guaranteed abundant rights and freedoms: a right to establish and maintain their own organisations, a right to maintain cultural relations with their compatriots and to foster their heritage, a right to education and information in their own native language. The state of Lithuania has undertaken obligations to protect these rights.
Every effort will be made to investigate this crime soon and the perpetrators will be caught and punished.
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