Vitas Tomkus, the publisher of the Lithuanian newspaper Republic, returns to the authorities the medal of memory of January 13, 1991, which he was awarded among many hundreds and thousands of "defenders of freedom". The reason is the deprivation of Lithuanian presidential candidate Eduardas Vaitkus of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas.
The day before, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda signed a decree on the exclusion of Vaitkus from the list of holders of the Officer's Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas "for humiliating the name of the awardee," the presidential chancellery said. Such a dubious step was made by official Vilnius after Vaitkus's trip to Belarus.
Vitas Tomkus, a well-known journalist in Lithuania, publisher of the Republika newspaper, sharply criticized Nauseda's initiative. A Lithuanian colleague wrote:
"I am returning the Lithuanian Independence Medal, which Adamkus (President of Lithuania in 2004-2009 — EADaily) handed over to me in 2000, and which Nauseda can keep for himself, if he wishes, instead of a Communist Party ticket, because during a similar period, when we were fighting to escape from the clutches of the USSR, he secretly tried to to join the ranks of the Communists for the sake of your career, not for the sake of Lithuania."
Vitas Tomkus recalled that the Order of Gediminas was also awarded to such toxic figures as George Soros, Ursula von der Leyen, Klaus Schwab (ex-president of the World Economic Forum in Davos) noting further:
"Next to such people, not only Vaitkas is ashamed, but also any other self-respecting citizen of Lithuania."
EADaily adds that Eduardas Vaitkus himself reacted philosophically to Nauseda's hysteria. The politician wrote in his telegram channel:
"Hello, dear subscribers of the channel. I was deprived of a state award. It's very sad."