2024-04-21 06:36:39
Politicians who took part in the conference together do not hide that they could not even think that they were communicating with G. Kirkil for the last time.
He looked tired
On Saturday, sad news spread across Lithuania – the 72-year-old long-time politician G. Kirkilas died unexpectedly. The body of the deceased was found on Saturday morning. The police said that his relatives informed the doctors and the police about the death of Mr. Kirkilos.
The closest friends of the former prime minister and the politicians who attended the conference together with G. Kirkil on Friday do not hide their shock over G. Kirkil’s death.
On Friday, an international conference organized by the Seimas Future Committee was held in the Seimas Constitution Hall, the purpose of which is to discuss aspects of the development of Lithuania’s future ecosystem and its role in the implementation of the State Progress Strategy “Lithuania’s Future Vision “Lithuania 2050”.
The former Prime Minister of Lithuania Aleksandras Abišala, who also attended the conference and read the report, did not hide his surprise at the death of G. Kirkilos.
Even on Friday, during the conference, A. Abišala stated that he had spoken with G. Kirkil, although he did not want to detail the content of the conversation – it was said that it was not about politics or state affairs.
“He looked a bit tired, but quite normal – he didn’t complain about anything, didn’t say anything. After all, if he was sick, he wouldn’t go to the conference”, – to the news portal lrytas.lt said A. Abishala.
The former politician stated that G. Kirkilas did not read his report during the conference, but listened to the presentations of other participants.
One of the first prime ministers of the restored Lithuania admitted that his and G. Kirkilo’s political views differed, but they always managed to find a common language.
“Our views are opposite – I’m a liberal conservative, he’s a social democrat, at least in theory it’s true.
Anyway, we talked, but about politics – very rarely, only sometimes. In any discussion shows, we usually agreed,” the 68-year-old former politician shared his memories.
He didn’t believe he was seeing it for the last time
On Friday, Laima Liucija Andrikienė (66), a member of the European Chamber of Audit, also delivered a report at the conference. The politician noticed that G. Kirkilas still looked good on Friday, “nobly pale”.
“Yes, I saw you yesterday. I didn’t know that we wouldn’t meet again… At least in Vilnius. Maybe somewhere else, the sky…” – to the portal lrytas.lt said LLAndrikienė.
“This morning’s news is very unexpected, because the day before yesterday we both met in the Seimas and participated in the same conference. We helped ourselves to the traditional, non-committal “Hello, how are you?”. And we sat near each other.
Gediminas looked a bit old, very thin, noble white… I had no idea that we would meet again. At least here, in my current life,” shared LLAndrikienė.
The politician expressed her condolences to G. Kirkilo’s relatives: “Condolences to his loved ones and those who loved him. I know how difficult it is for all of them to come to terms with the loss.”
LLAndrikienė recalled that she worked together with G. Kirkil during several Seimas terms, even though both were political opponents.
“During more than three decades, everything happened between us, including disputes. At the beginning of independence, the opposition was enormous, it is impossible to forget. He was not a deputy of the Supreme Council, I first knew him as an assistant to A. Brazauskas.
All kinds of events come to mind. I remember how, when I was already a member of the European Parliament, I once criticized the Government led by him for some decision, and I received his “return” comment that I was allegedly distant from the realities of Lithuania…
I was angry, because every weekend in Lithuania I used to meet people in various parts of Lithuania, sparing neither time nor energy for those meetings, and he knew it very well. But now, in the face of his death, such things no longer seem important,” she admitted.
The politician said that she will remember G. Kirkilas as a thoughtful, hard-working politician who did not waste time.
“Of all the leftists, social democrats, he was perhaps the closest to the TS-LKD, generally to the right of the center. I remember that he was appointed a minister without a portfolio in G. Vagnoris’s government.
And also – Gediminas was a careful observer and analyst of the processes taking place in Lithuania, Europe and around the world. A politician who tends not only to listen, but also to hear. When something was agreed upon, he could be trusted. In my view, while working in the Seimas and the Government in free Lithuania, Gediminas changed a lot, and that change was obvious: he became a real statesman, experienced and reliable”, said LLAndrikienė.
Not the only thing worth learning
Speaker of the Seimas Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen (40) also said that she communicated with G. Kirkil on Friday.
“Very few politicians in Lithuania are able to look as deeply and respect their opponents as Gediminas Kirkilas was able to do, and this is not the only thing worth learning from this wise politician.
With whom I communicated yesterday at the conference in the Seimas.
Rest in peace, Gedimin. My condolences to the family,” wrote V. Čmilytė-Nielsen on her Facebook account.
G. Kirkilas was born in 1951. in the capital. 1978-1989 belonged to the USSR, later to the Lithuanian Communist Party.
in 1990 G. Kirkilas was elected as the first deputy of the Lithuanian Democratic Labor Party (LDDP) and belonged to this political force for several years.
Since 2001 became a member of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP), 2007-2009. chaired the Social Democrats.
The politician has been elected to the Seimas since 1992. and worked in the parliament for several terms – until 2020. in 2017 retired from the ranks of the Social Democrats in November.
G. Kirkilas served as Minister of National Defense in 2004-2006, headed the Government in 2006-2008.
G. Kirkilas in 2003 was awarded the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great, and a year later – the Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Vytis Cross.
2024-04-21 06:36:39