Gegužës 9-Osios Problema Saugumizavimo Teorijos Ir Komunikacinio Saugumo Požiûriu
The “9th Of May Issue” From Perspectives Of Securitization And Communicative Security

Summary/Abstract: The May 9th issue was the main question on the Lithuanian foreign policy agenda in the first half-year 2005. The question was a trivial one: should the President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus attend the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in Moscow. However the question became a source of public discussions among politicians, businessmen, historians and political commentators. One point was common – the issue was very delicate and needed unusual measures to find the right solution. The President agreed that he should be aware of the painful historic experience of Lithuanian nation and take the issue to the public discussions before the final decision is made. Therefore the task of this research is to look at the May 9th issue from different theoretical perspectives: from constructivistic approach (Ole Wæver’s theory of securitization) and from positivistic approach to security issues. The first question of exploration – is the May 9th issue a security issue? From securitization perspective the question should be formulated like this: was the May 9th issue a securitizated threat? From positivistic perspective the question sounds so: could the discussions around the May 9th issue and the decision of the Lithuanian President cause damage to Lithuanian national security? The research has concluded that the May 9th issue was successfully securitizated, because three criteria of securitization were fulfilled: a) usual political procedures were changed with reference to the possible threat rising from the President’s decision; b) objects to be secured were indicated; c) securitizing actors were identified. From positivistic perspectives the real threat of the May 9th problem could be estimated as minimal (or hypothetical) and even communication processes (proposing the hypothesis that communication security sector has an effect on threats dynamics) did not changed threats characteristics significantly.

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