Diplomatijos šefas: Stasio Lozoraičio įgaliojimai

LTLietuvių egzilinės diplomatijos pradžia galima laikyti 1940 m. birželio pradžioje Lietuvos Respublikos užsienio reikalų ministro Juozo Urbšio Lietuvos pasiuntinybėms išsiųstos telegramos nr. 288 fragmentą, kuriame yra nurodoma, kad, Lietuvoje susiklosčius katastrofiškai situacijai, užsienyje Stasiui Lozoraičiui yra suteikiami diplomatijos šefo įgaliojimai, o jo pirmuoju pavaduotoju skiriamas Klimas, o antruoju – Šaulys. Sovietams okupavus Lietuvą, užsienyje veikusi Lietuvos diplomatinė tarnyba daugiau nei šešis dešimtmečius buvo vienintelė egzistuojanti valstybinė institucija. Straipsnyje yra tiriama, dėl kokių priežasčių buvo paskirtas Lietuvos diplomatinės tarnybos šefas bei jo pavaduotojai, kokia buvo pareigų perdavimo motyvacija ir problematika. Pačioje Lietuvos diplomatinėje tarnyboje šis klausimas buvo svarstytas ne vieną kartą. Nuo 1983 m., mirus Stasiui Lozoraičiui, dr. Stasys Antanas Bačkis iki Lietuvos nepriklausomybės atkūrimo ėjo Lietuvos diplomatinės tarnybos, kurios veikla buvo sustabdyta 1991 m. rugsėjo 6 d., šefo pareigas.

ENIn early June of 1940 Lithuania's Foreign Minister Juozas Urbšys sent a telegram (No. 288) to Lithuania's missions abroad. The most often cited sentence from it is the last: "Should catastrophe strike us here, you are to regard Lozoraitis as the chief of our diplomatic service abroad, Klimas as the first deputy, and Šaulys as the second." When the Soviets occupied Lithuania a few weeks later, this telegram fragment became the start of Lithuanian exile diplomacy. For more than six decades the Lithuanian Diplomatic Service (LDS) was active abroad as the only remaining state institution of Lithuania. The telegram's last sentence, possibly just an afterthought, raises many questions even today. The archives of the diplomats themselves, recollections o f their contemporaries, and Lithuanian historiography yield somewhat different versions of that telegram's text. Thus this article investigates the circumstances and motives surrounding the naming of the LDS Chief and his deputies as well as the problems involved in passing on these duties to others. Stasys Lozoraitis served as LDS Chief for more than 40 years. As his first deputy Petras Klimas was imprisoned and deported to Siberia, and the second, Dr. Jurgis Šaulys, died in 1948, Lozoraitis remained alone among the three persons mentioned in the telegram.The question of his succession and deputies was discussed several times in the ranks of the LDS itself. It was especially pressing in 1957 with the death of Povilas Žadeikis, Lithuania's envoy to Washington when Lozoraitis himself was slated to be his successor. But only in 1978 did Lozoraitis in a separate document name Dr. Stasys Antanas Bačkis as the LDS Chief's deputy and empower him to take over his duties in the case o f his death. When Lozoraitis died in 1983, Bačkis served as LDS Chief until the reestablishment of Lithuanian independence, after which he transferred his powers to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry and discontinued the LDS on September 6,1991.