Lithuania to hold Kazimiera Prunskienė state funeral Thursday

Former Prime Minister Kazimiera Danutė Prunskienė, the first head of government of restored independent Lithuania, will be given a state funeral on Thursday, LRT reported, citing the Baltic News Service.

The public will be able to pay their respects at St John’s Church in Vilnius from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Wreaths from officials will be laid in the afternoon, and Mass for Prunskienė will be held at 6 p.m.

On Thursday, a guard of honour will stand by her remains from noon. The urn is scheduled to be carried out at 1 p.m., when the funeral procession will begin its journey to Antakalnis Cemetery.

Farewell speeches will be delivered at the cemetery, followed by a minute of silence and the presentation of the state flag to Prunskienė’s family. The ceremony will conclude with gun salutes and the singing of the Lithuanian national anthem.

According to Gedas Salyga, a representative of the prime minister, speeches at the cemetery are expected from the prime minister, the speaker of the Seimas and a representative of the signatories.

Prunskienė died last week at the age of 83. She led the Lithuanian government after the restoration of independence and remained active in politics for several decades. In 2012, she suffered a stroke that impaired her speech, and she did not return to active politics because of her health.