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CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY !Address by Mr Justas Vincas Paleckis, Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania112th session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of EuropeStrasbourg, 15 May 2003Mr. Chairman,Dear Colleagues,Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all, I would like to congratulate Estonia and Slovenia who celebrated the 10th anniversary of accession to the Council of Europe, together with Lithuania, yesterday. It was a really joyful celebration in our capital Vilnius and other places. It also coincided with the other optimistic event of European importance – the overwhelming success of Lithuanian referendum on the EU accession. The enlargement of the European Union will lead to major changes in the European society. At the same time by embracing all but two European countries, Council of Europe has become a truly pan-European forum. In this new architecture, the proper definition of the Council of Europe’s place and role will be our most important challenge for the coming years. Lithuania supports the convocation of the 3rd Council of Europe summit. Future role of Council in building Europe without dividing lines, consolidation of the past enlargements, partnership with European Union and closer co-operation with OSCE should to be on the agenda of the summit.Lithuania supports the proposed general theme ‘Council of Europe’s future role in building Europe without dividing lines’. Especially important at the summit, in our opinion, would be to emphasize the role of regional cooperation. We are proud to belong to a region that has been working hard to develop regional cooperation, already enjoying it’s benefits and involving more neighbours into it. We strongly believe in sharing of best practices with the other regions so far deprived of these benefits or even facing tensions. Therefore we have made regional cooperation the flagship of our Chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers, our initiatives in this area are well known. After joining the EU new possibilities will be open to us to remain one of active leaders of regional cooperation, focusing attention to overcoming eventual lines of division. Based on her experience Lithuania wishes to register that regional cooperation is one of the key methods in breaking all kinds of dividing lines in Europe: political, economic, social, cultural and mental. Regional approach can permeate both parts of the proposed general theme of the summit: be a principal of the political guidelines for consolidating 800 million Europeans and serve as a tool in refreshing the partnerships of Council of Europe with the EU, OSCE and UN in different areas of common action.Regional cooperation should not only cover social and economic aspects, but also serve as tool to transmit and spread the common European approach to the human rights, rule of law and judicial system in different regions, sharing of experiences in safeguarding freedom of religion and consciousness, freedom of media, securing equality of genders. Continuing her chairmanship priorities Lithuania is hosting the meeting of Council of Europe and Regional organizations dedicated to the fight against corruption and organized crime, taking place in Vilnius on June 10-11. This is a vivid example of how the threats like these can be best addressed through the regional approach.Lithuania is for more attention of the Council of Europe to be given to the Russian region of Kaliningrad and it’s involvement into regional projects by using the possibilities of Euroregions, what could be reflected during the summit. We want to expand Council of Europe activities for the democratization of Belarus through involving it into regional initiatives via local authorities and civil society also using the possibilities of Euroregions. We also think that the countries of South Caucasus have to be given stronger impulse to the regional cooperation and we are already contributing to promote regional cooperation inside and with the Caucasus region.One particular challenge of contemporary Europe to be adequately managed is migration. But we are also concerned about the negative phenomenon related to it – xenophobia. Eastern and Central Europe has to be prepared to face it taking into account the experience accumulated in some European countries and using Council of Europe mechanisms. Council of Europe has to further develop it’s work of promoting intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, spreading the knowledge of other cultures. We emphasize the necessity for more action on intensifying internal dialogue in European societies facing growing manifestations of xenophobia. We also believe that the Council of Europe on its summit has to take more into account the challenges of globalization in this respect. The continually increasing number of applications to the European Court of Human Rights creates enormous difficulties to deal with successfully. Lithuania welcomes the excellent work that has been already done by the Steering Committee of Human Rights in an effort to propose reforms to the Court. The set of coherent proposals, formulated in its Final Report, is a good basis to continue the work and take the necessary decisions to maintain the effectiveness of the European system of protection of human rights and guaranteeing, at the same time, the right of individual application. We prefer a realistic and resolute approach to the complex reform that has to be implemented urgently. It has to include all measures necessary to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the Court of Strasbourg and save its role as a key player in the Convention system of the protection of the human rights in our continent. Regrettably, trafficking in human beings has become a major source of concern in Europe and in the world. Lithuania makes a lot of efforts to tackle this problem. The Government, for example, has approved a Programme for the Control and Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings and Prostitution for 2002-2004. The phenomenon of trafficking is a complex one, all the more requiring a coordinated European approach to the problem. The Lithuanian Government is in favour of a new legally binding instrument on trafficking in human beings within the Council of Europe. Assistance to victims as well as protection of the human rights and dignity of trafficked persons must be at the centre of every measure taken. Trafficking prevention strategies should be based on the dual approach: first, demand reduction and, second, address such factors as increased vulnerability to trafficking, protection and assistance to the victims of trafficking, criminalization and punishment of traffickers. Also, I would like to encourage all member states of the Council of Europe to use a micro-financing through local banks for women entrepreneurs, which would be one of the best means to reduce the trafficking of women and to promote social development. Effective weapon of mobilizing public opinion in fight against human trafficking is mass media and art. Best example of it is very human and very touching and, unfortunately, almost documentary Swedish film “Lilya 4-ever” which I would recommend to all the participants of our session.As to the idea of free movement of persons within wider Europe it would be possible to implement it after profound preparations in a long-term prospective. I would like to point out that recently Lithuania has demonstrated constructive position while solving the problems of transit between the Russian Federation and the Russian Kaliningrad region. The agreement reached by Lithuania, Russia and the European Union is in full compliance with the Schengen framework.I would like to express Lithuania’s support for the idea of Luxembourg to establish the Partial Agreement on European Cultural Routes and Landscapes and to encourage all interested delegations to continue the preparatory work so that the early decision could be taken.Finally, best wishes for the success of the incoming Moldovan Chairmanship.Thank you.