The Lithuanian parliament held an official ceremony Tuesday to mark the departure of the architect of the Baltic country's independence, Vytautas Landsbergis, to the European Parliament.

Landsbergis, 71, was elected on June 13 as one of the two representatives of the Conservative Party and one of 13 Lithuanian MP's in all who will sit in the European parliament.

"You have left a distinctive mark in the history of Lithuanian parliament, we shall miss a partner and an opponent, who was interesting and sometimes a fiery debater," Ceslovas Jursenas, acting speaker of the parliament, said.

In his speech Landsberg called on his compatriots to ensure that the Lithuanian legislative body "represents the entire nation and the will of the people".

A professor of music, Landsbergis headed the popular movement Sajudis, which initiated the break-away of the Baltic country from Soviet Union. He became the first head of state of the country, which has a population of 3.6 million, after it declared independence on March 11, 1990.