The new Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius thinks that the sculptures installed in the city centre at the Zeleny Bridge during Soviet times must be removed, restored, but not returned to their initial place. This was reported by “Regnum” Agency. The liberal Šimašius won the first direct election of mayors of Vilnius in all history of Lithuania - he scored 60.89 percent of votes. The results were announced on Monday, March 16. Earlier, from 2008 to 2012, he served as the Minister of Justice in the government of Andrius Kubilius.

      The monuments on Zeleny Bridge became the subject of discussion since the restoration of Lithuania's independence. There were proposals for their demolition, but the intellectuals were against it, claiming that the monuments presented a single entity. The state of the monuments is unsatisfactory, they need to be restored. The bridge is decorated with sculptural groups of pro-Soviet characters mounted on granite pedestals in the corners of the bridge: “Studying youth” depicting two students: male and female, “On Guard of Peace” at the northern end of the bridge at the right bank, “Agriculture” and “Construction and Industry” at the left bank.