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Chairman Smith, Co-Chairman Cardin,
Ranking member Hastings,
Dear other members of the Commission,
Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honor and pleasure to appear before the Helsinki Commission. Thirty-five years ago, in 1976, following the signing of the Final Act, a Helsinki Committee was formed in Vilnius.  I need not remind you that Lithuania was not free at that time. I associated myself with members of that new Helsinki Committee, in 1976. For this action the State authorities had me summarily removed from the University. Today, I have the honor to appear before your Commission as the Lithuanian Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE.

In this capacity I recently visited Moscow where I met with Liudmila Alexeyeva, Chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki group. I was reminded that 35 years ago physicist Yuri Orlov established the Public Group to Promote Fulfillment of the Helsinki Accords in the USSR.

On 11-12 May this year Russia will commemorate this event and pay tribute to those courageous individuals who stood against totalitarism and oppression. The commemoration a little later of the 90th anniversary of the birth of Andrei Sakharov will provide another occasion.  I draw the attention of the respected Senators and Representatives to the significance of those grassroots organisations, private individuals who continue fulfilling the vision of Helsinki. Individuals like these paved the way at the beginning.

The OSCE participating States made progress, individually and collectively, toward the goals of the Helsinki process.  Today, we still see individuals facing challenges in securing basic human rights, ensuring fair elections, protecting freedom of speech and the safety of journalists and ensuring that anti-terrorism measures comply with international human rights standards. 

As the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE I set the goals that would further the key principles of the Helsinki Decalogue, support implementation of the commitments undertaken in Istanbul, Paris, Astana, and realize the vision of a security community throughout our shared OSCE area. In this endeavor I have already visited Vienna, Brussels, Moscow, Kiev, Moldova (Chisinau and Tiraspol), New York.  The Chairmanship has engaged in talks over the situation in Belarus and the OSCE presence in Minsk. OSCE SG M.P. de Brichambaut, ODIHR Director J.Lanarcic, and OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media D.Mijatovic remain in close contact with me coordinating actions in relation to Belarus.  In close co-ordination with the US and EU, the Chairmanship conducted preventive diplomatic efforts to help the government and opposition get out of dangerous political gridlock in Albania.

My special representative for protracted conflicts together with the UN and EU Co-chairs of the Geneva discussions visited key capitals, talked to key parties in preparation for the next round of the Geneva talks in March. The resumption of the formal 5+2 negotiation format has become my key preoccupation in the last weeks and my interlocutors, High Representative C.Ashton, Foreign Ministers S.Lavrov of Russia, K.Gryshchenko of Ukraine, I. Leanca of Moldova, have sent me signals of a need to move ahead. 

Lithuania is under no illusions about the enormity of the tasks that face us this year. As the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office I plan to focus our attention on specific key outcomes our organization, like many these days, is aware of budgetary constraints.  Therefore, I will encourage the OSCE to seek to “do more with less” and draw on our collective resources, from the participating States and our partners to begin fulfilling the draft action plan initiated at the Astana Summit. 

Our key goals:

• register tangible progress in addressing protracted conflicts;
• significantly improve our record of implementation of media freedom commitments;
• promote tolerance education throughout the OSCE area in order to combat hate crimes and discrimination;
• address transnational threats, including border management and other projects involving Afghanistan, drug trafficking, cyber threats;
• enhance the OSCE’s role in energy security dialogue.

During my recent visit to Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, I met with the governments involved in the 5+2 Talks and with the political leadership on both sides of the river Nistru.

We discussed ways forward in the settlement process, fully respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova. I remain cautiously optimistic that the resumption of official negotiations in the 5+2 format with a full agenda is achievable. Meanwhile, I recognized the need for a continued focus on restoring trust between the two sides through the implementation of various confidence-building measures.

I will shortly meet again with the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group. The precipice in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has never been that dangerous in recent years. Minister S.Lavrov and I shared the deep anxiety and concern over this at the recent meeting. Immediate and long agreed to confidence and security building measures must be implemented. Snipers shall be withdrawn with the Line of Contact. The OSCE monitoring capacity must be beefed up. There is therefore a pressing need for mechanisms and fora for two-way communication channels, about the peace process and about public reactions to it.

Progress on the conflict in Georgia will not be easy either. I will use the Geneva process to rebuild trust and will work to restore a meaningful OSCE presence in Georgia. I will work with the participating States to explore possibilities for extending the OSCE’s activities in Georgia, including through a meaningful OSCE presence on the ground. Full-fledged roles played by the UN and the EU remain essential and must not be diluted.

In March I will visit Baku, Yerevan and Tbilisi. In all the capitals I will talk to my counterparts, opposition, civil society arguing that engagement, peaceful and negotiated settlement, and continuing on the democratic path are the best way to fulfilling the aspirations of these proud nations for freedom, liberty and prosperity.

When you look at the causes of conflict in the OSCE area you are repeatedly struck with how often discrimination against minorities lies at the root of the problem.  Working quietly and discretely with the High Commissioner on National Minorities our

Lithuanian Chairmanship will continue to seek ways to guarantee minority rights. The Chairmanship will continue the work of ODIHR in support of non-discriminatory treatment of Roma and Sinti. Equality for women and men will remain a central tenet of our programs.

Together with Rabbi Andrew Baker, who has happily agreed to continue his service as Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office for Combating Anti-Semitism, we will hold an event in Prague next month specifically devoted to the struggle against anti-Semitism in public discourse. I am also pleased to tell you that by the declaration of the Parliament and decision of the Lithuanian Government, Lithuania will mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust with a year-long commemoration featuring numerous activities, conferences, education in the schools and acts of remembrances  

My personal representatives on combating discrimination against Christians and other groups will organize an event on this topic in Rome in May. My Personal Representative on Combating Discrimination against Muslims will roll out new guidelines for educational tools. 

Our community is safest when human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law are upheld. Working with the Representative on Freedom of the Media I will call an OSCE conference on the safety of journalist in Vilnius on 7-8 June.  I am speaking out in support of the freedom of the media.

We will look again at our individual electoral processes and work harder to see that commitments are lived up to.  The follow-up process of implementing ODIHR election-related recommendations is an integral part of this process. Shortly the ODIHR will present its report on the presidential elections in Belarus.

Despite certain steps in the right direction, the people of Belarus were not given the opportunity to participate in elections that were consistent with OSCE commitments. 

The decision by Belarus to close down the OSCE Office in Minsk leads to self-isolation. The activities that were within the mandate of the Office shall continue and I will work with all concerned to make this happen.

I have encouraged the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to continue co-operating with the election observation missions from ODIHR in monitoring elections, with each of these bodies bringing their own special talents and strengths to that essential task.

Some of the greatest threats to our individual and collective security are trans-national threats. I am speaking of challenges to cyber-security, support for terrorism, the trafficking of human beings, weapons, and drugs. 

I am particularly satisfied to report, based on recent travels and discussions, that there is broad EU, US and RF support to address transnational threats related to terrorism, cyber security and drug trafficking, and to intensify OSCE engagement with Afghanistan, particularly through the border management and security programmes and better co-ordination on the regional level and between different actors. The OSCE cannot work inside Afghanistan, but it can continue to bring Afghanis to our programs, and work with border control programs.  We are to make better use of the OSCE field operations in Central Asia as well as the OSCE institutions in Dushambe and Bishkek.

Lithuania has constantly supported strengthening energy security in the OSCE area.  We will seek to promote the energy dialogue as a factor for peace and cooperation and promote dialogue on energy security issues by using its unique framework that involves some of the main energy producers, consumers and transit countries. 

Summing up, throughout this year the Chairmanship will be able to advance the OSCE agenda as long as key players – the United States, the Russian Federation and the EU – support the relevance of, and our commitment to, the principles on which this Organization is based, and maintain the level of cooperation and dialogue which was evident at the Astana OSCE summit.

The OSCE remains the most inclusive and comprehensive regional security organization in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian area. It will continue to provide a unique forum. I intend that we follow a pragmatic and constructive course.  We must move forward one step at a time, promoting our ideals and commitments in issues and regions where we can make a difference.