Public farewell begins for former Lithuanian prime minister Kazimira Prunskiene

The public can pay its respects to Kazimira Prunskiene, the first prime minister of Lithuania after the restoration of independence, at St John’s Church in Vilnius on Wednesday, LRT reported.

The church will be open for mourners from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. A Mass for Prunskiene will be held later in the afternoon.

Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas is expected to attend the ceremony. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius and other officials will also lay wreaths.

People will have another opportunity to say goodbye to Prunskiene on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The funeral procession will then travel to Antakalnis Cemetery, where she will be buried at the Signatories’ Hill.

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

President Gitanas Nausėda will not attend the funeral because he is working remotely from Madeira, Portugal, this week.

Prunskiene died last week at the age of 83. She led Lithuania’s government after independence was restored 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.