Grybauskaite will invite Medvedev to 20th Independence Day celebration (1)

President Dalia Grybauskaite on Wednesday confirmed that she is planning to invite Russian head of state Dmitry Medvedev to Lithuania's 20th Independence Day celebrations on March 11th, 2010.

However, Grybauskaite did not confirm if she would go to Moscow for Russia's annual Victory Day on May 9, which celebrates the defeat of the Nazis in World War II.

"Let's first wait until March 11," Grybauskaite said.

Grybauskaite said extending an invitation to the Russian president "means I want to know if Lithuania is important to its neigbours, if the 20th anniversary of Lithuania's freedom is important for them."

"As I mentioned, we are inviting all presidents who are in Europe and the presidents of neighbouring countries."

The leader of Lithuania's freedom movement in the 1990s and the former head of the Supreme Council of Lithuania, Professor Vytautas Landsbergis, praised the move, saying it was the right decision.

"Why not invite the head of such an important neighbouring country to our very important celebration? Imagine if we invited all the presidents of neighbouring countries but not Medvedev. How would that look?" said Landsbergis.

Political experts doubt Medvedev will accept the invitation. If he did, he would become the first Russian head of state to visit Lithuania after the country regained its independence from the Soviet Union.

Landsbergis said Lithuanian leaders have paid official visits to Moscow several times, but no Russian president has set foot on Lithuanian soil in 20 years.

Political scientist Gediminas Vitkus told the Baltic News Service that Medvedev's visit to Vilnius is very doubtful "because Russia has never demonstrated any deep respect for Lithuania."

"If Russia sent its president to Lithuania out of the blue, it would have to change its position. I believe Russia doesn't respect either our independence or our state. The diplomatic relationship is minimal and the relationship has never been warm or friendly," Vitkus told BNS.

"I would be very surprised if Medvedev comes," he said.