Lithuanian government which this week celebrated its first birthday did not get truly sincere congratulations. However, it seems that the government even did not expect to get them. In the modest three-page long report of the Prime Minister Mr. Andrius Kubilius, which was announced on this occasion, one can find only the signs of careful optimism.

Maybe this caution served as an obstacle for the head of the government to say the things that we all should not forget.

First of all, we should take pleasure in the fact, that in the shops or bazaars we are paying in Litas and that the value of Litas is the same as it used to be a year ago. And, if we would take into consideration the purchasing power of Litas, maybe we would find out that today its value is even bigger.

Of course, for those, who just four years ago were loudly dreaming about the Euro introduction and after the failure of these dreams were resenting the European bureaucrats, who told the truth about the perspectives of the Lithuanian economy and prevented the introduction of Euro, the retained honour of the Litas maybe does not seem to be such a big value.

It is necessary not only to have money, but also to guard them. In most countries of the world the economic crisis equalled a word “banker” to a swearword. No single bank did collapse in Lithuania, and Lithuanian government did not have to try to rescue any bank. It is hard to imagine, how much money did we save. The sad prophesies that we will not manage to deal with the situation without the support of International Monetary Fund also did not come true.

In January [2009], the same day, when 18 years ago we were burying the victims of January the 13th, unrest was going on aside the Seimas [Lithuanian Parliament].

Since then we can constantly hear about the danger of social disturbances. One could hardly claim that we avoided these disturbances only because of the fact that the wages and pensions were paid on time. It doesn’t matter that the wages and pensions were smaller than previously.

The political ghosts are still hovering around the buildings of the Parliament. Still, not even 20 years have passed after restoring independence, however, parties, that are proud to be able to call themselves a pro-Russian are already appearing in Lithuania. 20 years ago we could study the lessons of the Russian master of democracy Andrei Sakharov, and today the pro-Russianness is related to Putinism.

What is the most surprising out of the tasks that the current, the 15^th Lithuanian government fulfilled during a year of its existence, it’s the quick and smooth termination of the “Leo LT” story. If we decide to believe in what the guys of “Maxima” claim, not only the firm stance of the negotiators, representing the government, was important, unexpectedly, the complex economical situation turned to be useful for the public interest.  “NDX Energy” immediately needed money, and not the never-ending litigation.

It seems that the happy end of the “affair of the century” saved not less money for the budget, i.e. for all of us, than successful supervision of the banks.

It feels that the optimism for the construction of the new nuclear power plant, that started to arise after the winning of “Leo LT” case, should be treated more offhandedly. First of all one should find out, how the 5 billions Litas, which the European Union appropriated for the shutdown of the old power plant, were used. And only after having done this, we will have a right to complain about the rising prices of electricity.

In the anniversary statement of the Prime Minister nothing was said about emigration, about those thousands of Lithuanian people who are leaving the country. The unrestricted human right of movement, the right to leave for a week, year or a decade is a big value, the right that was introduced by the advent of democracy and freedom. If the current wave of emigration can be considered as our victory or as a loss, we will get to know not earlier than after a decade.

The government of Andrius Kubilius, that is celebrating its first birthday, after many years is the first Lithuanian government which is not afraid to take responsibility. And it’s not really fair that this government has to take responsibility not only for the mistakes of its own, but also for the mistakes that were made before. The talks about the salaries and the cars of the members of the parliament, about the resources assigned for the parliamentary activities -these talks that are inducing big dissatisfaction in the society, should be equally addressed to the position as well the opposition. The most important thing is not to let the essence to be overshadowed by the details.

The lack of responsibility is an ingrained problem in Lithuania. It is not important if the current government will work until the end of its cadence, or it will stay only one year, one month more; it just would be nice to believe that the subsequent cabinets of the ministers will have to guide their activities taking into consideration the principles of responsibility for their words and deeds.

Andrius Kubilius and his government became a handy target for the media which considers itself as a watchdog. It becomes somehow filthy to say publicly a good word about the government. One forgets that a good watchdog barks only then, when there’s a real threat. And nobody calls an incessantly barking dog as a watchdog.

20 ago the “Velvet revolution” decorated the streets of Chechoslovakia with posters with an image of Vaclav Havel and an inscription: “Truth and love will overcome lie and hatred”. After V.Havel became a president, the aforementioned phrase, said by him, remained as a motto for the lifes of many people.

Only two years have passed. A hack murderer who was for the first time tried in free Chechoslovakia told to the psychologist: “It’s just funny to hear that truth and love will overcome lie and hatred. Business and bargains are the most important things. Supply and demand”.

*Translated by Milda Bagdonaitė