President Gitanas Nauseda criticized the Vilnius city authorities for, according to him, a number of dubious decisions in implementing the idea to build a monument to former president Antanas Smetona in the capital. According to the current head of the country, the fact that the capital's municipality is stopping the implementation of the monument to the former president may indicate that Vilnius is trying to separate Antanas Smetona.
"This is another sadness," G. Nausėda said about the stuck issue of the monument to the interwar Lithuanian president.
"Actually, it is very disappointing for me to state what happened in the last year, to conclude that I clearly see a lack of political will in the Vilnius municipality, which for a long time actively participated in the process, participated in the selection of the place, later withdrew from that process, although at first it agreed even for the place", said G. Nausėda.
The president questioned whether it was really all of them Vilnius city municipalities the decisions and the call to reorganize the competition for the monument were sincere. Therefore, the head of the country noted, the municipality of the capital city should very clearly answer the questions raised in the public space, what the city authorities are trying to do by pausing the process of building the monument.
"In my opinion, this is a situation in which the municipality should answer the question very clearly, because such suspicions could arise: do they want to simply destroy the construction of the Smetona monument, or do they really and honestly think that it would be possible to implement (the monument project - ELTA) in a different way", said the president.
"I would like her to dispel doubts, which unfortunately exist, that this is simply an attempt to separate Vilnius and Smetona. Historically, Vilnius and Smetona cannot be separated, but in the minds of our bureaucrats, such a divorce process can be organized," the president concluded.
A few weeks ago, the Vilnius Municipal Council adopted a resolution asking the Government to stop the implementation of the results of the tender held last year, because, it claims, representatives of the capital were not included in the Ministry of Culture the composition of the commission of the organized project competition, and too little time was allocated to submit the projects.
ELTA reminds that the competition for the monument to A. Smetona was initiated by the previous Government, and the winners were the authors Gediminas Antanas Sakalis, Kazys Venclovas and Indrė Rakauskaitė and their project "622522", which was allocated 250 thousand. euros.
The monument to A. Smetona was planned to be built on Gediminas Avenue, on the other side of Vinca Kudirka Square. in 1918 in that place, but in the building that has not survived, the State Council and its chairman, A. Smetona, worked.
Ben Brunal (ELTA)
