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Your Excellencies,

Professors,

Dear students,

MASSAA ALKHEIR (labas vakaras)

I am very excited to be here with you today and talk to you about my beloved nation. Lithuania might not have been the most frequent subject of lectures at this great centre before, but this makes our meeting even more meaningful.

One could stress many features of Lithuania, but my description consists of three most important ones. First and foremost Lithuania is characterized by the rich tradition of statehood that reaches back over 1000 years. Another point is our cultural and linguistic heritage. To quote a famous American educator [Benjamin W. Dwight], “if the value of a nation in the total sum humanity were to be measured by the beauty of its language, the Lithuanian ought to have the first place among the nations of Europe”. And the third feature of my country is its perfect strategic location as we connect the region of Northern Europe with the East, West and South.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have just heard the shortened “twitter-like” version of my account about Lithuania […so you can put your notes away and relax]. By now I would be honoured to share the whole story that hopefully will be of interest to all of you.    

I am sure you are aware where Lithuania is situated, but you may not know that French National Geographic Institute in 1989 determined the geographical centre of continental Europe and it is in Lithuania, near our capital Vilnius (26 kilometers north). This speaks well for our position in Europe: we are amog the stakeholders of the integrated Nordic-Baltic region, but at the same time we enjoy the unique knowledge of countries, cultures and contacts to the east and south from us: Russia, Ukraine, Caucasus countries and other. There are many historical reasons for this. The crucial one is our glorious but also tragic past.

In 2010 Lithuania celebrated one thousand years of the official mentioning of its name in the historical chronicles. This date symbolizes our nation’s status - rising to the European political scene and the development of our statehood.  

Perhaps not all of you are aware that Lithuania was once the largest state in Europe? By the end of the 14th century Lithuania consisted of vast territories of nowadays Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. But the centre of the huge Grand Duchy of Lithuania was always in present day Lithuania.

Lithuania has always been diverse and tolerant. Even now, Ukrainians jokingly call us their best occupying power. The Grand Dutchy of Lithuania was home for many nations, languages and cultures which freely flourished all over the vast area.

I am aware that the United Arab Emirates is also a country embodying a spirit of tolerance amongst different communities and faiths and your country attracts people of many nationalities.

Later, for more than two hundred years, Lithuania partenered in a Commonwealth with Poland. This was eventually dissolved by the stronger aggressive European powers and it fell under the Russian empire at the end of the 18th century.

In 1918 after the First World War, we regained our statehood,  but in 1939 and in 1940 again Lithuania was occupied by the Soviets. In 1941, by the Nazis, and in 1945, again by the Soviets. Lithuania – a country of 3 million people – lost 1/3 of its population because of these occupations and the terror that followed them.

Even under the Soviet occupation, Lithuanians managed to resist and fight for their freedom. We finally regained our independence in 1990, after 50 years of occupation. In 1991 we re-established diplomatic relations with the major countries of the world. I am happy to note, that this year, we are marking the 20th anniversary of recognition by the United Arab Emirates, of our independence.

Looking at your country’s four decades of history - since the establishment of statehood in 1971, I congratulate you on the impressive success of the policies led by the United Arab Emirates founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan and his fellows. The United Arab Emirates has subsequently emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most stable countries in the Middle East region.  

As Lithuanians, we are also proud of our achievements. During the past twenty years, we have accomplished our main political goals, modernised our economy and created a more open society.

Now, I would like to say a few words about our education and our economy.

Lithuania is not rich in natural energy recourses; therefore the engine of development and economy is our people. Here again, I find the same fundamental elements with your Government policies, as one of the guiding principles of former President Sheikh Zayed was that „the country‘s real wealth lies with its people“.

We have one of the most educated populations in the Europon Union:  90 percent with formal education – the highest figure in the EU, 40 percent of Lithuanians have university level education, 90 percent are able to speak at least one foreign language. 40 percent of Lithuanian researchers are concentrated in science and technology, majority of them is below 45 years. Lithuania has a “talent pool” of eighteen thousand scientists in various research and development fields.

The quality of education is open to everyone: Lithuania is becoming a destination for students from all over the world. We have already had medical students from the United Arab Emirates. We want to encourage this trend – to invite your young generation to turn more towards non-traditional study destinations and choose Lithuania for your studies. Lithuania is a dinamic European country and the qualifications of our Universities are recognized throughout the European Union and therefore throughout the world.

I am well aware of the United Arab Emirates Government commitment to the upgrading of its educational environment and impressive allocations amounting to 25% of the total budget.

Talking about Lithuania’s economic priorities, number one is cooperation with our neighbours in the North. Lithuania, together with Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Denmark forms a Nordic-Baltic region: which is distinguished by the constantly increasing level of economic integration, prosperity and by the ambition to advance as one entity.

20 years of the joint work transformed our cooperation with the Scandinavian countries from the mentor-pupil stage into relation of equal partnership. Nordic-Baltic cooperation helped to achieve outstanding economic stability. Today our region is the 5th largest in Europe and the 8th in the world.

We are aiming this region to become an integrated community of values and quality in daily life. We even have a family kind of organization - NB8 which is very effective, open and flexible.  This year Lithuania holds the Presidency of NB8 and coordinates the Nordic-Baltic cooperation agenda.

We have the right ambition and political will: within the next 20 years to become one of the most innovative countries in a broad Nordic-Baltic region. It is expected that by 2015 the production of IT, laser technologies, biotechnologies, nanotechnologies will constitute 25 % of Lithuania‘s GDP and 80 % of national export.

Also I would like to point out that we have world’s leading Information and communications technologies infrastructure and an impressive list of significant European and global records in this field:

•  Lithuania has world’s 2nd speediest upload Internet.

•  Europe‘s No. 1 fiber broadband penetration.

•  The world’s No. 1 in the number of mobile telephone subscribers per 100 persons.

•  Lithuania was the first country in the whole EU as well as one of the first in the world to launch the 4G Mobile Internet back in 2009.

•  Lithuanian manufacturer of lasers won the world’s best Scientific Laser award in 2010 after successful competition with 16 other finalists from General Electrics and other global leaders of the industry. 

Hit by the global recession, Lithuania’s economy started rebounding in the 3rd quarter of 2009, and the World Bank said Lithuania was leading the recovery in 2010 and 2011 in line with some other countries among EU member states. Lithuania‘s GDP in the 1st  quarter of 2012 increased by 3.9 per cent compared to 2011.

I would like to stress that Lithuania is an open economy with a foreign trade turnover ratio to GDP as high as 140 percent. We have been praised by international economic analysts as an attractive destination for foreign business expansion. According to the latest reports, Lithuania is ranked 27th on the ease of doing business (World Bank) and 23rd freest economy in the world (Heritage Foundation).

Today I am accompanied by the business delegation. We believe that the best way to go forward with development of our economic cooperation is direct business contacts. Lithuania sees the United Arab Emirates as a promising trade destination. As for Lithuania, we might appear small, but we have what it takes to become gradually one of the most efficient entrance points to reach the huge market of the EU as well as an attractive departure point to Eastern European markets.

Mutual benefit should be the basis for a boost of our bilateral economic cooperation. A number of Lithuanian companies already took part in the International food and beverages show GULFOOD 2012 presenting a whole range of products, including “Halal” sertificated ones. We are offering cooperation in sectors of textiles and apparel, real estate, IT solutions for enterprises, complex passenger transportation systems, logistics and others.

We see a high potential for United Arab Emirates investments in such sectors as financial and business services, transport and logistics, chemical and petrochemical industries, real estate development. Your country has undeniably acquired valuable experience in these fields, and these sectors are among the most competitive in Lithuania.

We believe that there is a potential for more active cooperation in the field of tourism. Lithuania is an attractive Health & Medical tourism destination offering high quality medical services in line with the European Union standards – health check-ups and disease diagnostics, eye, orthopedic, plastic, cardiac surgery, oncology, dentistry services as well as medical wellness and SPA services at a significantly favorable price in comparison with other European countries.

For the year 2020 and beyond the priority of Lithuania is energy independence that will ensure the freedom to choose the type of energy resources and their supply sources. Current overwhelming dependence from the Russian gas creates a national security threat.

Presently, along with our regional partners we are implementing a number of projects to strengthen our energy security – a new Nuclear Power Plant, power and gas interconnections, LNG terminal, underground gas storage, etc.

Also, Lithuania sees the development of renewable energy as a means to eliminate our energy dependence. Lithuania has an untapped potential of renewable energy inside the country at least threefold bigger than currently used. Biomass, wind, hydro, solar and geothermal energy are the types of renewable energy currently used and under development in Lithuania.

Abu Dhabi is the headquarters of International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, it is also home to Masdar City, designed to be one of the world‘s first carbon-neutral cities. Lithuania is one of the co-founders and an active member of IRENA. We believe that an active international co-operation in the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies will reduce global dependence on fossil fuels, limit energy consumption in large energy consuming sectors such as household and transport, and, finally, significantly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Keeping in mind the previous tragic nuclear accidents, we are confident that energy security picture is not complete without mentioning nuclear safety. As nuclear accidents do not recognise country borders nobody can feel secure when new nuclear energy projects are being developed without required responsibility. I am happy to note that both the United Arab Emirates and Lithuania are supporters of the responsible and safe development of nuclear energy.

Excellencies, professors, students,

In 20 years of independence we have implemented two major goals of our foreign policy – joined the European Union and NATO. For us this is not something artificial, but flows naturally out of our essence – we are Europeans and we need security based on our historical experience.

In the 2nd half of 2013 Lithuania will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. We see this task both as a challenge and as an opportunity for our country.  This will be the first time Lithuania holds the Presidency, so our main goal is to consolidate our membership in the European Union.

We have already started discussing and identifying priority areas for our Presidency. These include: energy security – strengthening external EU energy policy; Eastern Partnership – strengthening co-operation, support for the reforms; strengthening EU external borders and EU Baltic Sea strategy – effective implementation and reinforced regional cooperation.

The Presidency will bring us an opportunity to deepen relations with our partners in Europe and worldwide, so, we are sure, it will also contribute to further promotion of the relations with the United Arab Emirates, especially within the EU-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) framework.

I can recall on constructive exchange of views we had during EU-GCC Ministerial meeting last year in Abu Dhabi. I think there is a shared willingness to make EU-GCC relations deeper, more political and strategic. Next EU-GCC Ministerial this year should cement this deeper dialogue. 

I am aware that there is also some sort of scepsis about the future of Europe, especially in the current economic downturn. But we are still very Euro-optimistic. Let me just mention how great this idea of united Europe is and how it has already succeeded. Can you imagine that France and Germany were enemies some 60 years ago? That the Polish army was occupying our capital Vilnius until 1939? And now you can drive non stop from Finland to Spain without even showing a passport. It is an incredible achievement – an area of peace and free movement.

A few words on our neighbors in the region, outside the European Union.

Let me start by Russia, the biggest one. Lithuania maintains balanced and pragmatic bilateral relations with Russia. Russian Federation is one of the major economic partners of Lithuania. Russia has concentrated its interests in Lithuania mostly to economic fields, especially in transport, gas market, oil, and electricity. Therefore, besides maintaining strong links with Russia, we also strive for as much transparency in these fields as possible. While engaging Russia we are acting on the basis of reciprocity and mutuality. Engagement is real only if it is reciprocated.

As for EU-Russia relations, we see the negotiations on the EU-Russia New Agreement (post - PCA) as a key feature in modernizing architecture of the EU-Russia relationship as well as making EU-Russia relations predictable and transparent. Russia’s accession to the WTO, in this respect, might become a long awaited result. But this yet remains to be seen.

Another neighbour of ours - Belarus is an important and at the same time often challenging country. For the time being the EU maintains two-track approach with regards to Belarus. We show our openness to ordinary Belarusian people and support civil society while applying well targeted sanctions vis-à-vis those responsible for serious abuses of human rights and fundamental democratic principles. Our interest is clear: free and democratic Belarus.

It is important to note, that processes happening in the Eastern neighbourhood, so called Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) have an impact to the European Union and Lithuania itself.

It is our firm belief that these countries deserve to enjoy the same standards of democracy, welfare and territorial integrity as we do and to have a chance to play a role in a whole and free Europe, bound by common values.

This is why Lithuania attaches great importance to Eastern Partnership. By increasing political, economicl and cultural links between EU and partner countries we build a ring of friendly democratic neighbours. We strongly hope that the motivating power of European perspective will encourage our neighbours to follow the right path of reforms so that in the 3rd Eastern Partnership Summit which is to be held in Vilnius ambitious goals will be achieved.

On the other hand, the events in North Africa and in the Middle East have somewhat shifted the focus of the EU’s, as well as Lithuania‘s, to the Southern neighbourhood. It has been already more than a year since the first protests of the Arab spring set in motion a historic series of events which continue to this day.

We have seen the peoples of the region express their desire for a better future, for deep democracy, for the respect of fundamental rights and for a more prosperous life in dignity, for themselves and future generations.

In a few countries, genuine progress has been made (Tunisia). Elsewhere reforms have been initiated, but much remains to be done. In certain countries, sadly, change has not gone in the right directions so far (Syria). The process of democratisation will be long with some setbacks and frustrations, but strong democratic forces have been unleashed.

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 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.

Lithuania attaches great importance to the commitment to peace in the Middle East, shown by the United Arab Emirates and other countries in the region as well as regional organisations, based on the relevant international resolutions and the Arab Peace initiative.

Since Lithuania’s membership in the EU, we became a member of the international donor community. Now within the limits of our possibilities we are fostering development cooperation with several countries in our neighbourhood region and beyond. One of the priority countries for our development cooperation is Afghanistan, and specifically its Ghor province where Lithuania is leading a Provincial Reconstruction Team. At the conference in Bonn, Lithuania expressed its political and practical support for Afghanistan in the run up to 2014 and beyond. In the light of transition process, we see the capacity building of local governance and local NGOs and rural development as our top priorities in Ghor province.

Let me quote again the United Arab Emirates founder Sheikh Zayed: “we believe that there is no true benefit for us from the wealth that we have unless it does not reach those in need, whenever they may be, and regardless of their nationality or beliefs”. In this respect, your country is a significant contributor of aid to many developing countries in the world, including Afganistan.   

While supporting the EU‘s efforts, Lithuania is striving to ensure political and advisory support for democratization processes both regionally and worldwide.

We have just concluded a successful two-year term as chair of the Community of Democracies and held the Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) through 2011. As Chairman-in-Office I devoted a great deal of time and energy on the protracted conflicts, energy security and  transnational threats including terrorism, drugs, cyber-crime, small arms and light weapons and combating human trafficking.

We are pleased to see our two countries’ close cooperation in the multilateral fora.

Lithuania's commitment to effective multilateralism is at the heart of our membership in many international organizations, both global and regional.

Since joining the United Nations, Lithuania has been elected to various UN bodies and chaired a number of them: the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, UNESCO World Heritage Committee among others.

Two main objectives guide our work in the multilateral diplomacy this year.

First, is our candidacy to the United Nations Security Council for the period of 2014-2015.

Second, a Lithuanian representative is seeking to assume the Presidency of the upcoming UN General Assembly. If elected, the Lithuanian nominee will ensure a balanced, open, cooperative, and accessible presidency of this main body of the United Nations.

Now let me say a few words about our culture.

It is well known fact for the linguists that Lithuanian language retained many ancient Indo–European forms and is the most similar language to Sanskrit, the old language of India. Scientists of historical-comparative linguistics of Indo-European languages confirmed that Lithuanian retained archaic sounds, morphology, shifting stress. Therefore prominent linguists visit Lithuania in order to learn our language and Vilnius has become the world centre for the Baltic studies.

Lithuania also has the Centre of Oriental studies, which is the major institution of Asia studies. The present centre of Oriental Studies has functioned since 1993; however, its original foundation date goes back to 19th century, when Vilnius University was the heart of studies of Oriental languages in Lithuania. Arabic is a difficult language to learn, just like Lithuanian might be to you. Nevertheless, many Lithuanians take up Arabic courses which are more and more popular in my country.

I think everyone visiting the United Arab Emirates can notice that you cherish and protect your national culture and heritage. Everyone has heard about the falconery which has been recognized officially as a “live human heritage” by UNESCO under the leardership of the United Arab Emirates.

As Lithuanians, we are also trying to safeguard and promote our traditions and culture. Cross crafting tradition, unique Lithuanian multipart songs - sutartinės and the Baltic Song and Dance festivals are included to the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, protected by UNESCO.

I also wanted to mention one ot the very first examples of our cultural, sports cooperation – the Lithuanian teatre has found its way to the United Arab Emirates by participating at the Fujairah International Monodrama Festival. Last year, the Lithuanian team took part in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge rally. In addition, we are also looking forward to presenting Lithuania at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair next year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Despite the geographic distance between our countries and despite our cultural differences, we have much in common. We share the same values of freedom and democracy. And these are the best basis for building on and strengthening of our relations - relations between Lithuania and the United Arab Emirates. We must also remember that partnership is not just a project for our governments. Our people must learn more about each other and continue to forge new and stronger ties in all the fields that unite us.

Therefore, once again I would like to invite for a wider cooperation between our business people, universities, researchers, students.

Let me finish by quoting the Roman theologian Saint Augustine who said: “the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”. I invite you all to visit my country and to add to your personal world’s book the page which you could name „Lithuania – small but sound”.

I thank you very much for coming, and for your interest in my beloved country Lithuania.

ŠUKRAN DŽEZYLEN (Ačiū už dėmesį)

Now. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.