Honestly speaking, I came to Vilnius with rather low expectations, since
I was several times told that the capital of Lithuania mostly resembles
a rather boring provincial city in Poland. Indeed, Vilnius is far from
a pulsing metropolis. With population of slightly more than half a
million, it mostly reminded me of my university town Brno or other
settlements of similar size.
Even the Polish inclinations are visible, which given the geography and history of the city hardly surprising. After all, with it's predominantly Jewish and Polish population, Vilnius or Wilno was an integral part of interwar Poland, which Lithuanians still often describe as an 'occupation of Vilnius'. This history significantly contributes to the remaining tensions with this between the Lithuanians and their biggest ethnic minority.
You can find a lot of churches in Vilnius, which stays in contrast to the fact that most of the Lithuanians weren't baptized until the 15th century, making them the last pagan nation of Europe. Like in other post Communist states, a lot of those churches were renovated after Lithuania regained independence in 1991. As a matter of fact, plenty of buildings in Vilnius were renovated or rebuilt, and unlike in Warsaw, these were not only those that were destroyed during the WWII. In this struggle to build a wannabe historical buildings in ancient styles, Vilnius reminded me of the Macedonian capital of Skopje a little bit.
The ever present fascists
Still though, the ever present greenery of Vilnius and its surroundings makes some areas of this region very pleasant to visit. Forests cover around a third of the surface of the country and just like in the other Baltic states, they played a role in the local anti Soviet resistance. The so called Forest Brothers managed to actively fight the Soviet occupation for about ten years after the country was ultimately incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1944. The hope that the West will eventually come and help was one of the sources of their determination.
Needless to say, the West did not help the Balts. As in the case of Ukraine today, for many it was just a far Eastern part of the natural buffer zone of the Soviet interests, and caring thus seemed too risky and unnecessary. Interestingly enough, even though the Forest Brothers were fighting against both the occupations, the Nazi and the Soviet one, they still were often referred to as fascists by the Soviet propaganda.
Fascism has apparently always served as a convenient Soviet/Russian stamp to put on an enemy or simply a state that wants to escape their influence. And it doesn't really matter that the picture of a heroic Eastern empire facing Nacizm entirely contradicts the fact that the in the beginning of the WWII Stalin was cooperating with Hitler. A lot of people in the West simply seem to omit what has always been clear in the Baltics or Poland - between the Nazis and the Soviets, no good side existed. And fighting against the Soviets during the war did not equal being a fascist.
Eastern understanding
This similar historical experience, bad relations with Russia and a complicated struggle for self determination makes Lithuania along with the other Baltic states one of the biggest advocates of the strong stance of the EU against Russia in today's Ukrainians crisis.
The discussion if the current situation in the Eastern Europe actually made up a big part of my time in Vilnius, since my Couchsurfing hosts both come from Kharkiv in the Eastern Ukraine. Olga and Andrej moved to Lithuania three years ago, disappointed with the results of the Orange Revolution of 2004. They both describe the Januchovych regime as time when corruption became a rule and mafians were sitting in the Kiyv Parliament.
Needless to say, the situation today is hardly better, the legitimacy of the original Maidan protesters requiements must however be totally justifiable in eyes of anybody who hasn't become a total sceptic. Maidan people did not want a fascist coup, they did not want to kill Russians in the East. They wanted, naively maybe, to become a new Poland. Unfortunately, they met a huge misunderstanding, both by their Soviet nostalgic compatriots and the sceptic West.
When I asked my Ukrainian hosts about how they feel about the EU nowadays, they said the except maybe from the above mentioned Poland and Baltics, the Ukrainians now see the Union as a traitor who did not help them. I tried to explain that due to the extremely difficult structure of the EU, the today's sanctions were the most they could hope for. Still however, it felt like a vain excuse for weakness.
Even the Polish inclinations are visible, which given the geography and history of the city hardly surprising. After all, with it's predominantly Jewish and Polish population, Vilnius or Wilno was an integral part of interwar Poland, which Lithuanians still often describe as an 'occupation of Vilnius'. This history significantly contributes to the remaining tensions with this between the Lithuanians and their biggest ethnic minority.
You can find a lot of churches in Vilnius, which stays in contrast to the fact that most of the Lithuanians weren't baptized until the 15th century, making them the last pagan nation of Europe. Like in other post Communist states, a lot of those churches were renovated after Lithuania regained independence in 1991. As a matter of fact, plenty of buildings in Vilnius were renovated or rebuilt, and unlike in Warsaw, these were not only those that were destroyed during the WWII. In this struggle to build a wannabe historical buildings in ancient styles, Vilnius reminded me of the Macedonian capital of Skopje a little bit.
The ever present fascists
Still though, the ever present greenery of Vilnius and its surroundings makes some areas of this region very pleasant to visit. Forests cover around a third of the surface of the country and just like in the other Baltic states, they played a role in the local anti Soviet resistance. The so called Forest Brothers managed to actively fight the Soviet occupation for about ten years after the country was ultimately incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1944. The hope that the West will eventually come and help was one of the sources of their determination.
Needless to say, the West did not help the Balts. As in the case of Ukraine today, for many it was just a far Eastern part of the natural buffer zone of the Soviet interests, and caring thus seemed too risky and unnecessary. Interestingly enough, even though the Forest Brothers were fighting against both the occupations, the Nazi and the Soviet one, they still were often referred to as fascists by the Soviet propaganda.
Fascism has apparently always served as a convenient Soviet/Russian stamp to put on an enemy or simply a state that wants to escape their influence. And it doesn't really matter that the picture of a heroic Eastern empire facing Nacizm entirely contradicts the fact that the in the beginning of the WWII Stalin was cooperating with Hitler. A lot of people in the West simply seem to omit what has always been clear in the Baltics or Poland - between the Nazis and the Soviets, no good side existed. And fighting against the Soviets during the war did not equal being a fascist.
Eastern understanding
This similar historical experience, bad relations with Russia and a complicated struggle for self determination makes Lithuania along with the other Baltic states one of the biggest advocates of the strong stance of the EU against Russia in today's Ukrainians crisis.
The discussion if the current situation in the Eastern Europe actually made up a big part of my time in Vilnius, since my Couchsurfing hosts both come from Kharkiv in the Eastern Ukraine. Olga and Andrej moved to Lithuania three years ago, disappointed with the results of the Orange Revolution of 2004. They both describe the Januchovych regime as time when corruption became a rule and mafians were sitting in the Kiyv Parliament.
Needless to say, the situation today is hardly better, the legitimacy of the original Maidan protesters requiements must however be totally justifiable in eyes of anybody who hasn't become a total sceptic. Maidan people did not want a fascist coup, they did not want to kill Russians in the East. They wanted, naively maybe, to become a new Poland. Unfortunately, they met a huge misunderstanding, both by their Soviet nostalgic compatriots and the sceptic West.
When I asked my Ukrainian hosts about how they feel about the EU nowadays, they said the except maybe from the above mentioned Poland and Baltics, the Ukrainians now see the Union as a traitor who did not help them. I tried to explain that due to the extremely difficult structure of the EU, the today's sanctions were the most they could hope for. Still however, it felt like a vain excuse for weakness.
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