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(26 Feb 1998) English/Nat The former Soviet republic of Lithuania is swearing in its new president on Thursday - a man who has spent much of his life as a top ranking civil servant in the U-S. Born in Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, fled to the West in World War Two but he returned last year and successfully ran for president earlier this year. Lithuanians hope his Western experience will mark a sharp break with the Soviet past and guide his country towards the European Union and NATO. A day at the races - Lithuanian style. Horse racing on ice is just one of the many traditions the new President of this small Baltic nation will have to get used to. For Valdas Adamkus has spent 50 years of his life in the United States. He fled Lithuania as a teenager in 1944 and became a career civil servant in the U-S working his way up through the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). He was responsible for a region with four times Lithuania's 3.7 million population but now he's returned home and convinced voters that he's the man to modernise their country despite not knowing much about day to day life here. But now he's more than making up for lost time. SOUNDBITE: (English) “I have to admit this is the first time I am present here, I heard about this I read about that and saw the pictures but this is the first opportunity to be present here. In general I welcome this. I believe that it unites the people and I'm delighted that this becomes the tradition here.“ SUPERCAPTION: Valdas Adamkus, Lithuanian President elect Adamkus narrowly won presidential elections in January, turning his lack of political experience into an advantage with voters who were jaded with party infighting. He also played on the fact he had not served in any Soviet-era administrations. As an American citizen, Adamkus had to fight a lengthy court battle to win the right to run for President in Lithuania. But all that is behind him now and he formally gave up his U-S citizenship last week as he promised to do if he won the presidency. He had returned to Lithuania a hero who had championed the Lithuanian cause in the West. But it is his experience as an administrator that he thinks will serve him well as the country's new leader. SOUNDBITE: (English) “25 years of administrative experience, that's what they are counting on because what this country needs right now is a good administrator who understands how democracy works and I believe that that was a decisive factor which tipped the scales to my side, as you know it was very close elections.“ SUPERCAPTION: Valdas Adamkus, Lithuanian President Elect Adamkus returned to Lithuania officially only one year ago. In the United States he moved quickly up the career ladder -- involved in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations As an American administrator he kept close contacts with his homeland often coordinating environmental aid to the Baltics and academic exchanges. He was a vocal opponent of Soviet control of Lithuania -- something that in 1991 came to a tragic end. Under Gorbachev the Soviets made a last ditch effort to keep the communist union from falling apart -- 13 Lithuanians died under Soviet tanks and guns, hundreds more were wounded. To this day Lithuanians remember the Soviet invasion as the final and ultimate insult by their Russian neighbors. Since the fall of the Soviet Union Lithuania, like the rest of the Baltic nations, has distanced itself from Russia and looked westward instead. At the seventh anniversary of the Soviet crackdown, Adamkus paid his respects to those who fought against Soviet imperialism. SOUNDBITE: (English) Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive:
