„It was a boring speech in a good way,“ said public relations specialist Mykolas Katkus, who stressed that the unhistorical nature of the speech was the most enjoyable part of the event.
The circumstances didn't spoil the festivities
The first time a US President addressed Lithuanians was in 2002, when the speech of the American leader George Bush to the people gathered in Vilnius Town Hall Square is still regarded as a turning point for Lithuania.
Biden, 80, is only the second US President to visit Lithuania, so it is not surprising that hundreds of people, waving Lithuanian and US flags, flocked to Vilnius University's Grand Courtyard to hear him speak, undaunted by the fact that they would have to wait in line for hours in the setting sun for a guaranteed opportunity to see the 46th President of the United States with their own eyes.
Although the atmosphere of the event was very festive, and people left the university courtyard at the end of the event grinning, the content of the speech itself did not leave any memorable phrases for the history books.
A direct message to voters
Public relations expert M.Katkus told the news portal lrytas.lt that he thought Biden's speech was boring for Lithuanians in a good way. According to him, the content of the speech was watered down, designed to entertain the audience and to show to his American voters that Biden is not only concerned about Ukraine.
Mr Katkus recalled that the Democratic Party, to which the current US President belongs, often criticises Mr Biden for supposedly caring only about Ukraine and not, for example, about the starving people in South America.
„Mr Biden touched on all of those points – he mentioned climate change, he mentioned low-income people in Africa and Latin America, and this was a live broadcast of his message to his constituents who could have watched it on CNN or other foreign media channels because a large number of journalists were present to cover the NATO meeting,“ the PR expert assessed.
Ukraine's role
At the same time, according to Katkus, Biden spoke about Ukraine in a sleek and positive way, reminding about the US support for the Ukrainians, promising to continue supporting the country, but also sending a kind of message to Volodymyr Zelensky that he „can't expect NATO to do everything, because he gets a lot of things from us anyway“.
„Did we expect more? Of course, we expected more, but he could hardly have said that NATO invited Ukraine. But he expressed his belief that all this would happen“, the expert noted.
And Biden's speech was full of words of reassurance to the Ukrainians, as Katkus noted. Biden's rhetorical figures of speech were quite successful in convincing people that he cared about Ukraine.
According to Mr Katkus, the current US President has a tendency to relax during his speeches and to say things he is not allowed to say.
„But yesterday, he was really in very good shape. He spoke beautifully, smoothly“, he said.
Message to Lithuania
In his speech, Mr Biden recalled Lithuania's history, mentioning many Lithuanian details. Katkus guessed that US Senator Dick Durbin, a Lithuanian-born US Senator, had told Biden about the Lithuanians of Illinois and Lithuania.
„In terms of content, it was a cautious, safe, very warm, very friendly speech by the leader of an allied country, who, like Mr Zelensky, felt at home here,“ he mused.
However, Mr Katkus would disagree with those who say that Biden's speech was historical, and he does not believe that it is possible to compare it with the speech of former US President George Bush in Vilnius in 2002.
„Mr Bush came to us when our situation was similar to Ukraine's – only we didn't really understand it at the time. Bush's message was that America had finally come, that it would not abandon Lithuania, that it would defend it.
It was a historic speech at that time precisely because we did not know where we were, and we were not members of the European Union. Mr Bush has put all the dots on the i's for us. However, there is no way we can hope for a repetition of that context.
Lithuania is a normal, stable, even slightly boring country in the Western world. The only exotic thing is that Belarus and Russia are on our border. However, the way the summit went, the way our economic indicators look, and our international perception – we are a normal part of the old West.
So, in such a country, Mr Biden's arrival cannot make any significant difference. Biden is our ally, we know it, and he knows it“, emphasised Mr Katkus.
Therefore, there is no significance of this speech for Lithuania, and there could not be, the expert believes.
„What foreign leader, coming to us now, would give a historic speech? No one would. No one expects anyone in Denmark to hear a historical speech by a foreign leader. They do not expect it because they are making their own history. Their issues are already settled. In the same way, we have already solved all our issues with the West,“ he stressed.
However, this is the best part – the feeling that Lithuania no longer has to wait for historical speeches from anyone, that no one doubts Lithuania's status, and that Lithuania is an equal partner.
L.Kojala: the message should make Lithuanians happy
Linas Kojala, political scientist and head of the Centre for East European Studies, who was listening to Biden's speech live at the time, said that this speech was a significant event in itself.
„The message was a common one – that the relationship between Lithuania and the US is very strong, and this was illustrated by the very fact that Biden gave this speech. He wanted it to resonate with all the people of Lithuania and, of course, the whole world.
I think that this is a significant event in itself. Biden's desire to mark the development of Lithuania's history, the victims of the January events, and the fact that the US never recognised the Soviet occupation also shows that the relations between Lithuania and the US are very strong today, but they were also very strong in the past,“ Kojala said.
The political analyst admitted that even if one or two key sentences from Biden's speech, which could be quoted even several years later, were not included, the overall message of the US President, according to Kojala, should make Lithuanians very happy.
„When Bush Jr. arrived, Lithuania was just integrating into NATO and the European Union, proving that it was worthy of being a full member of the Western club. Soon after the speech, we became one.
And now Mr Biden has come to a country that has already proved everything that is needed, that has achieved great victories in international politics, and that is a very important ally of the US in strengthening our common values, such as democracy,“ the political scientist stressed.
