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On 2 May, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, expressing condolences over the death of former U.S. diplomat, political scientist Ronald Asmus.“R.Asmus has paved the way for Lithuania to NATO. He was one of the first Western politicians who have suggested accepting the Baltic States into the Alliance and has consistently pursued this goal working in President Clinton’s administration. He was a true friend of Lithuania and all Baltic States,” the Minister’s letter reads.

R.Asmus was an American diplomat, political scientist, who has greatly contributed to the development of Europe’s new security architecture during the two decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Before serving as the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in 1997-2000, R.Asmus worked as an analyst for the Rand Corporation and fellow at Radio Free Europe, was one of the main advocates of closer cooperation between the U.S.A. and Europe.

He has significantly contributed to the establishment of the so-called Vilnius Ten, the group of the ten European countries. R.Asmus was one of the main contributors to the U.S.-Baltic Charter that resulted in a strategic partnership between the Baltic countries and the United States, and made it possible for Lithuania to join the transatlantic family.

During the final years of his life, R.Asmus worked permanently in Brussels and comprehensively helped the new members of the European Union and NATO to solve key tasks of security, energy security, and other problems of the Baltic and the Black Sea regions.

Brussels Forum was launched at the initiative of R.Asmus and regularly attended by representatives from Lithuania. The forum became one of the most important centres for strategic discussions linking the U.S.A. with Europe. R.Asmus was also one of the most active initiators and participants of the so-called Snow Meeting, an informal debate on international and security policy, which is annually held in Trakai.

R.Asmus visited Lithuania a few times. In 1999, he was awarded the Grand Cross of Commander of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas.