U.S. DIPLOMAT RECEIVES AN AWARD OF THE LITHUANIAN MFA FOR HIS ACTIVE SUPPORT OF THE POLICY OF NON-RECOGNITION OF ANNEXATION OF THE BALTIC STATES
On 17 November at the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, D.C., Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius conferred the award of honour of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs – ‘Lithuanian Diplomacy Star’ – on former U.S. diplomat, the main implementer of the policy of non-recognition of the annexation of the Baltic States at the U.S. Department of State during the cold war Mark Palmer. During his service as the Ambassador to Hungary, M.Palmer contributed to the peaceful overthrow of the Communist regime in this country. He is the main author of the 1980 historical speech by the then U.S. President Ronald Reagan to the British Parliament. This speech declared a principled struggle against Communism and voiced direct support to democratic forces that were struggling against the Communist regime and other tyrannies around the world. To this end, the infrastructure to support democratic development and freedom fighters was created.
Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis conferred a medal on the former U.S. diplomat and fighter for democratic values and human rights in July.An award is named after M.Palmer, which the Council for a Community of Democracies conferred on diplomats for their achievements to democracy at the Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Vilnius on 1 July.
