In the president’s words, one has mixed emotions when thinking about Lithuania.
“We see the amazing creation of Freedom that is admired by the entire world and that fills us with pride – in less than three decades, we have transformed Lithuania into a truly independent state,” Grybauskaitė said.
“But then, we also see the worms of greed and mistrust still eating into the foundations of the state from behind the political scenes, driving people to search for a better and fairer life abroad,” she said.
“When the waters of political corruption were stirred up, ‘unseen Lithuania’ opened before us even though we had suspected of its existence.”
A Vilnius court is currently hearing a major political corruption case involving MG Baltic, one of Lithuania’s largest business groups, and two political parties.
The Seimas’ Committee on National Security and Defense has recently completed a parliamentary investigation into business and interest groups’ influence on political processes and decision-makers.
It was the last but one State of the Nation Address by Grybauskaitė, whose second term will end in the summer of 2019.
She was elected president in May 2009 and re-elected for a second term in June 2014.