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Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen

Our annual meeting takes place at a time when Lithuania’s foreign policy goals declared upon regaining independence have been largely accomplished.

Today good neighbourly relations are a fact.

Lithuania was invited to join NATO and concluded negotiations with the EU.

With entry into the EU and NATO, a new quality of Lithuania’s participation in European and transatlantic matters begins.

We have demonstrated our reliability as a partner. Now we have to live up to the mandate and the responsibility of membership.

In this brief address today, I would like to define our future foreign policy priorities and share my reflections on some of them. I would define our priorities as:

-  Lithuania’s contribution to building a strong and prosperous Europe;

-  maintaining NATO’s viability as a collective defence organisation;

-  contribution to maintaining a stable international system based on the rule of law and multilateral co-operation; and

-  promotion of Lithuania’s economic interests in an era of increasing globalisation.

Let me start with Europe.

Tony Blair said some time ago: “It was NATO that won the Cold War, but it is the EU that will deliver the dividends of this victory for generations to come.”

Lithuania benefits from enlargement. But also delivers by sharing her experience of good neighbourhood and regional co-operation. 

In fact, the New Neighbours Initiative gives us a powerful tool to enhance our security and prosperity by encouraging democratic transformation and reducing differences in social and economic development in countries extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

By supporting Ukraine’s European inclination, by fostering democracy in Belarus, by sharing our integration experience and successes of regional co-operation with the nations of South Caucasus and the Balkan countries we shall be delivering the “dividends of victory”.

By encouraging flexible co-operation based on clear conditionality but also on reward-for-progress mechanisms with the nations along the perimeter of the European Union we shall be delivering the “dividends of victory”.

In an enlarged EU, one-fifth of the EU’s new eastern border will be Lithuania’s border with Russia and Belarus. We want secure borders. We shall make sure they are secure. But we also want them friendly and open to regional and cross-border co-operation. Lithuania has significant experience in the field. Our engagement in the Kaliningrad region is a good example. As we join the EU, we shall make sure this experience is used to benefit the Union.

We shall further support the EU’s Northern Dimension Initiative as a way of promoting and consolidating reforms in the European regions of Russia.

Indeed, Europe is changing dramatically. As the Convention debate demonstrates, it will continue to change. Lithuania will seek that the enlarging Union uphold the fundamental principles of solidarity and cohesion, equality of its member states, EU institutional balance, and legitimacy and efficiency of its functioning.

Our European agenda will also include:

-  joining the European monetary union and the Schengen Agreement in  2005-2007;

-  promotion and implementation of the Lisbon Agenda;

-  further improvement of regional energy and transport systems and their inclusion into the trans-European network; and

-  an active role in the EU-Russia energy dialogue.

EU membership will extend our political geography significantly, demanding enhanced expertise in an increasing number of areas and issues. We shall build on existing co-operation patterns with our European family members. At the same time, to meet new responsibilities, we expect to expand political, economic, and cultural ties with countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

It is an ambitious agenda. We’ll need to mobilise our human and administrative capabilities in order to be shapers and not observers of the EU’s transformation.

We believe in the necessity for Europe to have a solid voice internationally, to have a truly common foreign and security policy, and to develop a common security and defence policy. A Union of discordant voices would be damaging to the future of the European project started half a century ago. We have faith in the future of this project. We also believe that only a strong Europe can assure the viability and credibility of the transatlantic link which brought security and prosperity to the Continent in the first place.

Lithuania has a vital interest in a lasting and solid transatlantic link and, specifically, in continuing US interest in the Baltic region. As a NATO member, we shall seek to make sure its decisions and actions correspond to our security needs. This implies, first of all, keeping it a strong collective defence organisation maintaining Article 5 guarantees, fully committed to the security of all its members and capable of responding effectively to whatever security challenges may arise.

With the end of Cold War, conflicts aren’t over. Even if the Soviet threat is gone and forgotten, threats to our underlying values are not.

In fact, threats posed by international terrorism make daily news. Concern over weapons proliferation, including nuclear weapons, makes daily news. Conflict- and poverty- driven migration and the dramatic effects of climatic change make the news daily.

To deal effectively with the new security challenges, NATO’s strength and continued credibility are indispensable. Granted, we are now witnessing active discussion inside the Alliance. Just as in the EU or in the UN, for that matter. Issues of highest importance, including those of war and peace, are being debated. These are discussions that reflect the expectations and concerns of respective publics.

But there is a time to discuss and there is a time to act.

It is the unity of action and not the emotion of debate that will be the ultimate proof of the Allies. And if and when the need to act occurs, I am convinced the Allies will be united.  

Let me now turn briefly to the issue of multilateralism. To deal with the increasing variety of global challenges, maintaining the effectiveness of multilateral mechanisms such as the UN remains highly pertinent. Lithuania’s efforts in this respect will include continuing participation in UN peace operations, enhancing her role in the Human Rights Commission, and extending development co-operation aid, among other things, as well as applying for elected seats, such as ECOSOC for the period of 2005-2007, and non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council for the period of 2014-2015.

Finally, a few words on the promotion of Lithuania’s economic interest. We have solid ground for improvement in this field. Added security due to NATO and EU memberships and the synchronisation of Lithuania’s policies and laws with those of the EU will mean greater stability and predictability for investors. Manufacturers will have broader opportunities to operate on the EU markets, entering the single market with lesser costs and offering their products to millions of consumers in an enlarged EU.

This, Excellencies, coupled with Lithuania’s transit potential and proximity to the vast Eurasian market, including its wealth of natural resources, makes Lithuania an attractive economic partner to your countries.

To sum up, ladies and gentlemen, building on what has been achieved will define Lithuania’s foreign policy in the coming years. We are looking forward to continuing our co-operation with you, with all of your countries, in order to build together a safer, more equitable, and more prosperous world.

Thank you.