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Honorable Professors,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning,

I would like to start by thanking Vice-president Mr. Jonatan Davis for a very warm welcome here at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Herzliya, a platform for advanced discussions on foreign policy and  matters of international concern in Israel.

It is a moving occasion for me personally to be visiting your country, where the names of Vilna and Lita reverberate as strongly and with as much passion as in my home country.

The Jews of Lithuania emanated religious, scholarly and intellectual light all over Europe, and the fame of Vilnius/Vilna as the Jerushalaim de Lita was very well deserved. 

The very name- Lita- evokes a host of memories, both exalting and filled with profound sorrow; memories inherent to the heart and soul of the Jewish state.

Lita gave birth to Vilna Gaon and Mattityahu Strashun,  Jacques Lipchitz and Chaim Soutine, Jascha Heifetz and  Leopold Gotowski,  Mark Antokolski and Neheemia Arbit Blat.

Outstanding political figures of the State of Israel, including Moshe Arens, Aharon Barak, Ehud Barak, and Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, trace their families to Lita.

Countless other names, both famous and less well known, with their roots in the Lithuanian soil, are for ever inscribed in the annals of our spiritual and historic memory. 

Lithuania has a long and complex history, stretching over a millennium which we celebrated earlier this year.

A significant part of that history is our shared history. Lithuanian Jewry had left a deep imprint on the political, economic and cultural- even gastronomical - development of our country (kugel is still among the most popular traditional dishes in Lithuania).

At the same time, Lithuania is a young country which has regained independence and statehood a mere twenty years ago.

Twenty years is an instant in the history of mankind. We are therefore very proud- and rightfully so- of what we have achieved over such a short period of time.

After fifty years of captivity behind the Iron Curtain which held us isolated us from all that the democratic world holds dear, our independence is a solid and irreversible reality.

During the twenty years since the historic Baltic Way, in which Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians joined their hands to show to the world their unwavering political will to restore independence and statehood, we have build a modern state.

Having benefited greatly from openness and free trade, Lithuania is an active proponent of international free trade and innovations as a major vehicle of economic progress and prosperity.

Our free market economy is firmly anchored in global economy.

We have joined the European Union, NATO, the United Nations, OSCE, World Trade Organization and other major international bodies.

We have consistently increased our share of responsibility for international matters, by participating in international peace keeping missions, from the Balkans to Afghanistan.

We have created a vibrant democracy and established friendly relations with all our neighbours. 

Our experts are now advising other countries eager to pursue the path of democracy and Euro-Atlantic integration.

As we continue to build our state, we also take a deeper look into our past in all its complexity.

In it lies a source of wisdom and inspiration, reckoning and pain- but also of our future strength.

After fifty years of ignorance and indifference under the Soviet regime, we have opened up to the tragedy of Lithuanian Jews, which was the tragedy of the entire country.

We must draw lessons from the horrors of the Shoah each and every day, to make sure that “NEVER AGAIN” is not just another often repeated slogan- but our strongest moral conviction and guidance for the future.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I trust that cooperation between our countries has a great potential, yet to be fully tapped.

Lithuania’s accession to the EU and NATO gave an additional impetus to our bilateral  agenda.

Our officials meet regularly to discuss issues of mutual concern, such as human rights, global terrorism and nonproliferation; Afghanistan, Iran, peace prospects in the Middle East, and others.

With its impressive level of economic and scientific modernity, Israel is Lithuania’s main trading partner in the region.

During the period of 2004-2008 our bilateral trade nearly tripled, and yet it accounts for only one per cent of Lithuania’s foreign trade.

In view of this, the promotion of economic cooperation is high on our bilateral agenda.

The establishment of Israeli- Lithuanian Chambers in Tel Aviv last year and a similar one in Vilnius just recently are steps in the right direction which, I hope, will intensify Lithuanian – Israeli economic relations.

On the other hand, we look forward to Israel increasing its investments into Lithuanian economy, since the current level of FDI from Israel in our country is at a modest 40 mln euros.  Your investments would be especially welcome in areas such as renewable energy, biotechnologies and nanotechnologies,  R&D and innovations, as well as services sector.

Cultural, academic and research exchanges, promotion of tourism and people-to-people contacts, such as the second Lithuanian-Israeli Intellectuals Forum taking place today, offer excellent opportunities for expanding contacts between our two countries.

I am pleased that today we signed a cooperation agreement between two excellent education institutions, Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University and Herzliya Interdisciplinary Centre.

It is cooperation like this that will bring together our younger generations, building new bridges and creating new opportunities for a true partnership to evolve.

I hope that the result of these and other bilateral efforts will be more of Lithuania in Israel and more of Israel in Lithuania, thereby restoring a vital element of our collective souls.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As full-fledged members of the Euro-Atlantic community we have at our disposal a new set of opportunities to promote and safeguard our national interests.

Once we attained EU and NATO membership, we could have chosen to become a “golden province”, as some had urged after accession, reaping the benefits of our newly acquired status and focusing on domestic affairs. 

But we have chosen a different path.

Thanks to this choice, in the world of today the name of Lithuania is increasingly associated with openness, reliability, stability, readiness to take up the challenges of globalization and integration, promotion of good neighbourhood and dynamic development.

Lithuania’s foreign policy is built on the solid basis of EU and NATO membership, good neighbourly relations and active economic diplomacy.

Let me touch upon some of those points.

First, our proactive role in the region. It is our national interest to see more democracy and stability to the east of Lithuania’s borders.

Our own security and prosperity are dependent on it.  Therefore, advancement of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Eastern Europe is a vital foreign policy goal of my country.

This goal has gained particular importance in the context of current financial-economic crisis, which has increased the sense of vulnerability across Eastern Europe and reinforced our concerns that economic downturn could lead to political instability and a resurgence of radical and populist forces.

Therefore we embraced enthusiastically the EU’s Eastern Partnership Initiative adopted earlier this year.

This partnership responds to the desire of our Eastern neighbours to move closer to the EU.

It is also in the EU’s vital interest as it will contribute to the development of stability, good governance and more open economies along its Eastern borders.

Lithuania will continue supporting closer cooperation of Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, and South Caucasus countries with the European Union in all areas, including energy, which is a high priority for us domestically.

We are currently working on a range of flagship projects and practical measures aimed at helping these countries in their pursuit of structural and democratic reforms, good governance, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.

We have seen the value of EU enlargement, including through our own example, both for the countries who joined, and for the larger Euro-Atlantic space, and we continue to support further EU enlargement.

Of course, those who aspire for membership must do their homework by implementing necessary administrative and legal reforms, ridding their respective countries from corruption and crime, ensuring transparency and accountability at all levels, and fostering mature civil societies.  Only so can they make their eventual membership meaningful and beneficial to both themselves and the organizations they seek to join.

Our focus on helping our neighbours to help themselves is clearly reflected in Lithuania’s priorities as the coming chair of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2011 and the current presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

We want the entire Baltic Sea region- which together with Russia’s adjacent regions would create a market of 150 million consumers- to become an advanced, innovation-driven area of the free movement of people, goods and services, thus enhancing our region’s global competitiveness in this increasingly flat and crowded world.

At the same time, Lithuania supports the development of and encourages cooperation between the EU countries and the Mediterranean region as a way of creating a peaceful, safe, democratic and prosperous neighbourhood in the southern part of the EU.

We believe our two regions- the Mediterranean and the Baltic Sea region- share a number of concerns, especially in the field of energy security, clean up of the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas, maritime safety etc. and can work together in tackling these concerns, including through participation in relevant education and research programmes.

In fact, peace and political stability in the Mediterranean region have security and stability implications reaching out far beyond its actual borders.

Lithuania is concerned about the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process.

We fully support the two state solution – a viable and contiguous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with a safe and prosperous Israel. 

We call for the resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian side in order to put an end to this conflict and to ensure security and stability in the region.

In our view, only negotiations and dialogue can lead to solutions that would enable to break the cycle of violence and pain in the Middle East.

We welcome the decision by the Government of Israel on a partial and temporary settlement freeze as a positive signal and hope further steps necessary for the resumption of talks will be taken on all sides.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The recent memory of half a century under totalitarian rule reinforces the importance of democracy file in Lithuania’s foreign policy.

Lithuania is therefore increasingly engaged in international efforts to foster democracy.

A case in point is the assumption by Lithuania of the presidency of the Community of Democracies for the next two years.

In this capacity, Lithuania will work to strengthen the Community’s efforts in supporting democracy worldwide by pooling international efforts, involving governmental as well as non-governmental resources and experience and building synergies between the Community of Democracies and relevant international, regional and local organisations, initiatives and stakeholders.

We are also pleased that the European Union has recently adopted guidelines on democracy support in EU’s external relations, which will enable the EU to raise its efforts of democracy building to a new quality internationally.

We are optimistic about the outcome of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, and the new institutional setup, including the creation of the posts of the President of the European Council and the High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy as well as the creation of EU’s external action service.

In our view these changes will have a significant effect on the external representation of the Union and will enhance the Union’s role as a global actor by producing   more focused, coherent, and effective policies on all the major issues of international concern. 

Undoubtedly, Afghanistan will remain high on the international agenda for years to come. It is also high on the list of Lithuania’s foreign policy priorities.

Lithuania is leading a provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan’s Ghor province, one of the poorest and most isolated regions in Afghanistan.

Responding to the expectations of the Afghan people for a dignified, safe and secure life are essential elements of the global war on terror.

We fully support the need to increase the effectiveness and impact of the civilian element in the transformation of Afghanistan.

Our efforts in this country are therefore geared at improving the social and economic infrastructure, creating education and health care opportunities for the people of Ghor province.

It is a huge task, and we are currently working to attract more international partners into the area and promote joint projects with other donor countries.   

At the same time, we are determined to continue our contribution to ISAF operation in Afghanistan.

Let me now turn to trans-Atlantic relations. 

North America’s relationship with Europe enables us collectively to achieve goals that neither one of us could on our own, which is especially important in today’s complex and often unpredictable strategic environment.  

A coherent, united and credible Alliance is as important and necessary as ever.

NATO should remain a credible organization in the eyes of our citizens, but also in the eyes of all international players. Ongoing discussions on the new NATO Strategic Concept offer us an important occasion to re-examine our common security needs and perceptions.

For us it is essential that Article 5 and the principle of collective defense remains the cornerstone of transatlantic security.

There should be no doubt left regarding the political determination of all the allies to fulfill collective defense commitments.

This is particularly important to my country, situated along the external border of the Alliance.

In order to be credible, this resolve must be reinforced by appropriate defense capabilities, capable of and ready to respond to the emerging new security challenges.

The new Strategic Concept therefore needs to address the importance and implications of new threats, such as cyber and energy security, terrorism, piracy, climate change, etc.

Another important point for us is the continuity of NATO’s enlargement.

We believe NATO’s doors should remain open for European democracies that are willing and able to assume membership responsibilities.

Our cooperation with partners in Georgia, Ukraine, and countries of Western Balkans who have expressed their desire to carry our necessary reforms should not waver.

In our view, NATO enlargement which is not directed against anyone, has proven its historical significance and must be continued to embrace all those willing and ready to assume membership obligations.

Russia is an important partner to NATO, but in our view relations with Russia should not be put above other partners or existing concerns.   

Let me be clear. Lithuania appreciates the historic role of a democratic Russia in the early 90’s, when Yeltsin’s Russia was among the first to recognise Lithuania’s independence.

We want a democratic and prosperous Russia, abiding by its international commitments and respecting the sovereignty and independence of all its neighbours, as our partner and friend.

Today however, when engaging Russia, we must be firm in defending the principles and values that we hold dear to the democratic world.

We should engage with Russia where we can, while understanding that such engagement must be carefully graduated and met by a matching engagement by Moscow.

I believe the case of Iran can be seen as a test of Russia’s readiness to engage in a new sort of dialogue with its occidental partners.

We are deeply worried about the implications of Iran’s actions for the international non-proliferation regime.

We see the current situation as an issue of common international concern, which requires a common and well coordinated  response of the international community.

Waiting for Iran’s compliance cannot last indefinitely.

If Iran continues to reject cooperation and constructive dialogue, Lithuania supports the application by the international community of a range of targeted restrictive measures, addressed directly against the country’s most sensitive points.

A firm and united position of the international community, including the entire membership of the UN Security Council, is absolutely vital in dealing with Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

As human beings, we all carry the past in our DNA. Nobel prize winner Elie Wiesel says it most beautifully, as he refers to learning: 

"There is divine beauty in learning.... To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps. The books I have read were composed by generations of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, teachers and disciples. I am the sum total of their experiences, their quests. And so are you."

But he also warns, "To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time."

This is a stark and highly valid warning, especially because we continue to witness efforts to rewrite history and engage in a willful denial of facts, and because racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and similar –isms keep raising their ugly head all over the world.

As far as my country is concerned, I can assure you that the dead will not be forgotten. September 23, the day of Jewish genocide in Lithuania, will not be erased from our national memory.

Holocaust education in Lithuania stands on a solid footing.

Over 2000 Lithuanian teachers have attended Holocaust training seminars and about 1500 of them are already spreading the message through tolerance education activities.  

Starting with 2002, at least one hundred and fifty schools have been actively involved in the annual commemoration of the Holocaust.

Just recently, Lithuanian Seimas initiated a resolution proposing to proclaim the year 2011 as the year of the memory of Holocaust victims in Lithuania. Such a year-long commemoration will vouchsafe that this memory is kept alive, by building a new and solid bridge to the future of the relations between our countries.  

Thank you. TodA  rabA  and shalom.