Kazimira Prunskienė buried at Antakalnis Cemetery

Kazimira Danutė Prunskienė, a signatory of the Act of Independence and the first prime minister of independent Lithuania, was buried at Antakalnis Cemetery on Thursday, LRT reported. Her urn was taken from St John’s Church to the cemetery during a state funeral ceremony and laid to rest on Signatories’ Hill.

A guard of honour gathered at the urn at midday, while friends and political colleagues paid their final respects.

Tributes to a key independence-era politician

Arvydas Juozaitis, a member of the Sąjūdis Initiative Group, said Prunskienė and Meilė Lukšienė were the only women in the group. He highlighted Prunskienė’s visits to the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and France, where she built relations with Western countries during Moscow’s economic blockade of Lithuania.

“You became the most prominent woman of the Sąjūdis and national revival era,” Juozaitis said, praising her emergence in a political environment dominated by men.

Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, a signatory of the Act of Independence and a member of the European Parliament, said Prunskienė’s role in Lithuania’s history was undeniable, although she had been assessed controversially because of allegations that she collaborated with the KGB.

“Being the first is a difficult challenge, especially at a turning point between eras,” Andriukaitis said, referring to the economic blockade, difficult reforms and meetings with world leaders aimed at breaking the Soviet blockade.

Calls for greater political representation

Laurus Bielinis, a professor at Vytautas Magnus University, said a lack of representatives of contemporary politics could be noticed among those attending the public farewell. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas and several ministers attended the ceremony.

Bielinis and diplomat, historian and writer Alfonsas Eidintas said political forces that disagree with one another nevertheless form one state. Eidintas said the first government had worked from virtually nothing, with its key tasks including establishing diplomatic relations and organising national defence.

The government also faced an industry disrupted by separation from the Soviet Union, shortages of raw materials and the economic blockade. Prunskienė travelled to Denmark and Sweden ostensibly to discuss oil purchases, but the underlying goal was diplomatic, according to Eidintas.

Prunskienė held a doctorate in economics and delegated authority to her ministers rather than concentrating it in her own hands, Bielinis said. Her image in Moscow was that of a friendly, non-hostile figure. While Russian media criticised Lithuania over its independence, Prunskienė herself was not targeted and was seen as a buffer, which Bielinis said may have made it easier for the government to address some difficult issues.