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Bangkok, 7 April 2004 “New Goals of Lithuania after EU and NATO Enlargement” Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be with you today. This is my first visit to your beautiful country; but the interest in Lithuania which I find here is truly striking.

At the airport, I ran into a welcoming banner, which read: “Welcome to the Land of Smiles”. Yet even the land of smiles is not immune to tragedy and sorrow. The bombing in Narathiwat reminds us that the world has changed dramatically. Please accept the condolences of the Lithuanian people over the killings. We are all witness to how new threats challenge not only the security of states, but also the limits of human sanity.

I have come to Thailand from a NATO ministerial summit in Brussels, at which Lithuania sat a full member for the first time. And on the first of May, Lithuania will join the European Union. Thus, major policy goals of Lithuania will be accomplished.

These are significant achievements for Lithuania, which only fifteen years ago was under Soviet occupation. Our consistent effort and determination made our dream of liberty and statehood come true.

With a population of three-and-a-half million, Lithuania is a small nation. Yet we have great history behind and great ambitions ahead. Like Thailand, Lithuania was established in the early 13th century; but unlike Thailand, Lithuania failed to escape foreign occupation. Lithuania was ruled by many, but it never lost its European identity. Our membership in the European Union and NATO will now expand and enrich this identity.

After regaining independence in 1990, Lithuania had set four major foreign policy goals:
- membership in NATO;
- membership in the EU;
- good neighbourly relations;
- and promotion of Lithuania’s economic interest world-wide.

Today, membership in NATO is already a fact, and that of the European Union is a matter of some weeks.

We have good neighbourly relations with all our neighbours. Tolerance and mutual understanding, among other things, helped us to achieve these results.

As a member of the European Union and NATO, Lithuania must formulate a new foreign policy strategy, a strategy that goes in line with the broader Euro-Atlantic agenda.

I see two major objectives for Lithuania after EU and NATO enlargement. First, we must consolidate and reinforce the role of Europe globally. Second, we must reinforce Lithuania’s role in both European and world politics.

To this end, we must build on the advantages of our unique geographic location and our human potential, the two most valuable assets of contemporary Lithuania.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would like to start from Europe. Europe today is larger, more diverse, and more independent. We welcome this development. But we also believe in the necessity to keep up the transatlantic spirit alive and active. Lithuania relates its future to a transatlantic Europe.

A strong Europe needs a strong NATO, and vice versa. In the past, transatlantic cooperation helped to overcome Cold War divisions. While continuing to project security of the 21st century, it can also help to overcome social and economic divisions, which breed instability and political extremism.

Lithuania contributes to the development of transatlantic identity through its bilateral, regional, and European policies.

Lithuania enjoys a special relationship with the US -- not only because of its membership in NATO, but also thanks to historic and human ties. About one million citizens of Lithuanian origin reside in the United States. Most of them still have family ties with Lithuania.

We therefore are among the supporters of a transatlantic European Union. From Scandinavia to Poland, we share similar security needs, which US participation can help to address more effectively.

We believe that the evolving European Security and Defense Identity must be compatible with the EU’s transatlantic commitments.

European follow-up to the US-led operation in Afghanistan is a good example of this new-quality transatlantic partnership.

And in order to be successful, the evolving strategy for Wider, or Greater Middle East, in our view, should also build on close transatlantic consultation and cooperation.

The second need of Europe, alongside transatlantic partnership, is the internal consolidation of the enlarged European Union. Three ‘C’s are vital to the success of this goal:
- constitution,
- cohesion,
- and competitiveness.

A single constitutional framework would help the Union of 25 members to operate more effectively in an increasingly integrated global environment. The adoption of a new European constitution is now in progress, and we hope that this document will be completed before the end of this year.

Lithuania has come to the Union to receive and to contribute. We expect from the Union equal opportunities for development, and we want to share our vision and experience with the other nations of the EU. Therefore, Lithuania is for a Union governed by solidarity and enjoying strong community institutions. This will enable us to participate actively in EU matters.

To Lithuania, connection with European transport and energy networks is a major precondition for future prosperity. We invest much energy and resources in the completion of such projects as Via Baltica, Rail Baltica, or Lithuanian-Polish energy grid. They will significantly expand our possibilities, and will make Lithuania more attractive to regional and continental transit.

Infrastructure implies the issues of cohesion and competitiveness. The EU has set a goal of becoming the most innovative and competitive global economy by 2010. To this end, European nations have to review their financial, social and intellectual priorities. We need to invest in science and education more. We also need to reduce bureaucracy and reform our least-competitive sectors.

I am optimistic about Lithuania’s contribution in this field. Lithuania is a young state and an emerging economy. In ten years, we succeeded to transform our society from that of fully controlled by the state to liberal market democracy. And we remain responsive to dynamic changes around us. In particular, Lithuanian young leaders, artists and scientists will add value to Europe’s achievements and benefit from active exchange with their European counterparts.

I want to believe that this reciprocity and expanding human contacts will help Lithuania to increase cooperation not only within Europe but also with countries outside its perimeter, including Thailand.

As a European democracy, Lithuania builds its foreign relations on the values of democracy, human rights, free market, environment, and solidarity. Notably, our cooperation with East Asian countries is also built on these values. By promoting these values, we promote the European Union.

Last year Lithuania officially became a donor country, which will allow us to more actively involve in aid and development policies. At present, we are generally focused on the needs of our immediate neighborhood; but tomorrow, with the help of your country, we could develop new projects of assistance in more distant regions.

Lithuania can provide its experience and expertise accumulated during the years of transition. But we could also learn from your experience of building a fast-growing modern economy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lithuania’s integration into European community is a two-way street. We must be strong ourselves to build a strong Europe. Lithuania’s strength lies in its domestic cohesion, as well as in our regional policies.

The Baltic Sea is a meeting place of at least three different regions: Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. This allows Lithuania to advance regional integration and to promote European values outside the eastern border of the EU and NATO.

After enlargement, the Baltic Sea Region will emerge as the most dynamic and successful region of a united Europe. We have to improve our cooperation instruments to be at the cutting edge of this development.

New partnership formats unfold in the region in the prospect of EU enlargement. We start meeting regularly in a Nordic-Baltic Six format to discuss EU matters, and our traditional Nordic-Baltic Eight table is left for regional and transatlantic issues.

Lithuania also enjoys strategic cooperation with Poland, but adding new countries and bringing broader issues to this format would certainly benefit our bilateral partnership.

Lithuania has a wide array of instruments to promote cooperation with Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. We are ready to share our experience with our European and transatlantic partners. The New Neighborhood Initiative, launched by the European Union last year, offers a good starting point for this consolidation.

We hope that the New Neighborhood Instrument will not only focus on the traditional neighborhood, but also address the emerging democracies in South Caucasus, where fundamental changes take place at the moment. We are determined to provide our knowledge and expertise to assist the return of the South Caucasus nations to democratic mainstream.

Russia is also a neighbor of the enlarged European Union and NATO. We see this country as a factor in European foreign policy. Russia is welcome to contribute to building a new Europe, if she considers herself a European nation and subscribes to European values.

For Lithuania, relations with Russia have two facets. On the one hand, Lithuania develops economic and political relations with Moscow, which will now make part of EU-Russia and NATO-Russia agendas.

On the other hand, we develop close economic and political cooperation with the Kaliningrad Region of Russia. From the first of May this region will become a Russian island in the enlarged Europe. We want bridges between this island and the rest of the Baltic Sea Region, and we expect a strong EU support in this matter.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have just given a general overview of Lithuania’s foreign policy objectives. However, during this visit I have realised how little we, Lithuanians, know about Thailand and your region. In the age of communication, we must develop our relations faster and more systematically.

I hope that the official contacts started during this visit will in the near future evolve into further bilateral consultations, student exchange programmes, joint projects in arts and science, new opportunities for tourism, in order to build permanent bridges between our cultures and peoples.

Thank you.