![]() ![]() ![]() Natives point out that Pope John Paul II's mother was Lithuanian.īolstering their claim to a European identity, Lithuanians have latched on to a French geographical institute's report that Europe's physical center lies just 15 miles from Vilnius.The Slovaks make a similar claim about being at the center.The center's location is hardly important to visitors, who enjoy Lithuania's atmosphere of hope, ambition and determinedly pro-American sentiment. The locals never considered themselves close to their Slavic conquerors, anyhow, being much more European in their outlook, and possessing their own language and religion, two among many major differences. The atmosphere here, of a new freedom, is entirely different from that in Western Europe, where people saw the end of Nazi domination two generations ago, in 1945.West of the former Iron Curtain, everyone takes liberty for granted now, but not in Eastern Europe where that comfortable feeling is too new. At least that is the underlying attitude of Lithuanians, who lost their Russian oppressors in 1991, after 51 long years. I recently visited Lithuania for the first time, finding it full of surprises.My biggest realization was that here, World War II ended just about 15 years ago.
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