Vilnius city municipalities Today, the Council adopted a resolution by which it agreed that the monument of Peter Cvirka should be removed and transferred to the ownership of the state of the Republic of Lithuania in accordance with the procedure established by legal acts. In turn, the municipal Administration will prepare a plan for the temporary vision of the square and, involving experts, will continue discussions with the public regarding the long-term arrangement of the entire complex.
"Back during the local government elections, we committed to the people of Vilnius to de-Sovietize the city's spaces. We later included this issue in the coalition program and until now we have been very clear about the need to transform urban spaces, where we still have ambiguously evaluated works for Soviet actors. After really long discussions, both in the public space and between various institutions, we are moving towards the real implementation of this promise", says the Vice Mayor of the city of Vilnius Valdas Benkunskas.
The resolution was submitted to the Council based on the findings of the Genocide and Resistance Research Center of the Lithuanian population, which found that Petras Cvirka actively collaborated with the structures of the occupying Soviet government in his political and social activities, and his collaboration caused significant and harmful consequences for the fate of the Lithuanian state and its citizens.
2021 was also taken into account. August 24 The decision taken by the Council of Immovable Cultural Heritage Experts to delete the Petro Cvirka monument from the register of cultural values and the opinion expressed by the Historical Memory Commission of the Vilnius City Council regarding the relocation and transfer of the Petro Cvirka monument to the state institution and further discussions regarding the arrangement of the entire complex.
In the resolution, it was noted that the decisions to perpetuate historical memory in the capital should not oppose the society, but bring it together for harmony. It was urged to evaluate the comprehensive historical memory as the basis of the identity and continuity of the Lithuanian state and the condition of a democratic and harmonious civil society and to ensure the identity of Vilnius as an open, modern, urbanistically integral city.
"Mr. The removal of the Cvirka monument is not and probably cannot be assessed unambiguously. Understanding his contribution to Lithuanian literature and perceiving Mr. Cvirkas as a historical figure and taking into account the valuable properties of the monument, we will organize his removal with all due respect and caution. We have already agreed with the National Museum of Lithuania to take it over and make it more meaningful in an educational context," he emphasizes. V. Benkunskas.
It is being considered that the removal of Mr. Cvirka's monument could be implemented based on the experience of removing the Green Bridge sculptures. If such a decision were to be approved, the immobilization, cutting and loading of the monument would be procured through public procurement, and its transportation would be carried out by a municipal company.Beam".
