Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 13, 1990 TAG: 9003133265
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: VILNIUS, U.S.S.R. LENGTH: Medium
His chief conservative rival, Yegor Ligachev, ruled out the use of force, saying, "We must resolve this by political means."
At about the same time Gorbachev was speaking, an artist working outside the doors of the republic's legislature here was quietly putting the final touches on the new state seal of St. George where once a Bolshevik hammer and sickle had been.
Led by a soft-spoken professor of music named Vytautas Landsbergis, the Lithuanian revolution has been a two-year-long struggle of quiet, almost scholarly, pursuit of a singular goal. It is typical of the reserved spirit of the parliamentary rebellion here that on the morning after the most historic challenge ever to Moscow's control of a republic, there were no demonstrations, no mass celebrations.
"That is our style. But inside we all feel a little reborn," said Landsbergis, a founder of Sajudis, the informal independence movement that began in June 1988 and now holds more than two-thirds of the seats in the Lithuanian legislature.
Despite the parliament's dramatic, unanimous vote Sunday night to "re-establish" the independence Lithuania lost 50 years ago and its appeal to Gorbachev Monday to recognize their decision and end Soviet military service for all Lithuanians, the process of seceding from the Soviet Union is far from over.
Landsbergis, a non-Communist who was elected head of state by the parliament, says he now expects a prolonged period of difficult negotiations with Moscow. Dreams of creating a state on Lithuanian soil as prosperous and independent of Moscow as Finland are still distant. Not only must Vilnius get Moscow and the organs of Soviet power to agree in principle to Lithuanian independence, both sides must work out basic issues of economic and bilateral relations.
The unresolved questions are endless: Under what terms, and at what cost, if any, will banks, factories, collective farms, ports and other properties be turned over to the Republic of Lithuania? Do the Lithuanians owe Moscow reparations for industrial enterprises built since 1940 - as Gorbachev asserted last week in reportedly demanding up to $33 billion - or does Moscow owe Lithuania far higher reparations for "economic damage" and the deportation of tens of thousands of people to Siberia, as Lithuanian leaders suggest? Will a resident of Russia need a visa to visit Vilnius?
Moreover, will relations remain relatively calm and civil, or will Moscow, in its anger, apply an economic blockade against Lithuania? Some Lithuanian leaders, such as the new "temporary" Prime Minister Kazimera Prunskiene, say that such economic pressure has already begun with noticeable cutbacks in deliveries of fuel and other goods.
On an emotional level, Lithuanians point to the shortages of food and consumer goods and ask how they could be worse off. Despite Moscow's official stance praising its industrialization of Lithuania, people here are convinced that if they had remained independent, the republic would be as prosperous today as Finland.
by CNB