Lithuanian president to visit Estonia on restoration of independence day
President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda is on an official visit to Estonia next week, where he will attend the annual restoration of independence day reception at Kadriorg Palace.
President Nausėda will meet his Estonian opposite number Kersti Kaljulaid on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 20, a public holiday in Estonia. A joint press conference will follow, and the Lithuanian head of state is set to visit the Tallinn Television Tower, a key location in Estonia's drive for independence where in 1991, efforts were made to preserve press freedoms as the tower was surrounded by occupying Soviet troops.
Gitanas Nausėda will also visit the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Maarjamäe, and meet Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Centre), Riigikogu speaker Henn Põlluaas (EKRE) and representatives of the Lithuanian community in Estonia, ERR's online news in Estonian reports.
The presidents of Estonia and Lithuania will also hand over pieces of rock symbolizing the two countries' independence, at the annual Rose Garden reception at Kadriorg on Tuesday evening. As per tradition, President Kaljulaid will present a small piece of rock broken off a boulder that was used to defend Tallinn's Toompea Hill during the events of August 1991; the Lithuanian president will respond in kind with a similar token from Vilnius.
Gitanas Nausėda was elected President of Lithuania in May, and inaugurated in July.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte