Minister Linkevičius in Paris: There is a palpable wish to be together and united

The Lithuanian minister joined officials and leaders from other countries in the solidarity march on Sunday.

“Many people showed up. True, the state leaders’ groups is slightly removed from the crowd, but I can still see many people coming in. People in the buildings along the march route are waving, looking out their windows. The mood is positive and the weather is very nice. There is a palpable and sincere wish to be together and to be united,” Linkevičius told DELFI from Paris on Sunday.

“What was threatened were the values that should not have been threatened, it is a challenge. The first thought that comes to mind is that we need to rally together and show that cowards shooting from around the corner will not win, that freedom and the principles dear to France will win,” the minister told BNS.

He said it was symbolic that the route of the solidarity march included places like the Place de la Nation and the Place de la République that are named after ideas championed by France and the democratic world.

The Republican March was organized by French political parties in response to terrorist attacks last week that killed 17 people.

President of France François Hollande, President of the European Council Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Great Britain David Cameron, Prime Minister of Spain Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi, heads of states and of governments and foreign ministers of other states also participated in the solidarity campaign.

It is the first time since 1990 that the president of the Republic of France has taken part in a march of a similar nature. Last time, 25 years ago, President François Mitterrand publicly expressed condemnation of the mass profanation of Jewish cemeteries.