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Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, allow me to thank Minister Per Stig Moller and Ambassador Karsten Petersen for the excellent Danish Presidency. Please let me assure you that the incoming Lithuanian Presidency will do its best to ensure meaningful continuation of your activities.

At the time the CBSS was established in 1992 by its founding fathers Uffe Elleman-Jensen and Hans –Dietrich Genscher the main aim of the organization was to help the social and economic disparities between the Eastern and Western coasts of the Baltic Sea to disappear.

When I came to deal with these issues at the time of the Lithuanian Presidency in 1998-1999 in my capacity of the Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Council of the Baltic Sea States continued to solidify as an influential regional organization highly respected everywhere in Europe. We are pleased that our example of regional cooperation continues to attract other countries to our family. We therefore welcome Belarus, Spain and Romania to CBSS as Observer States. Lithuania, as a neighbor of Belarus, hopes that a more active involvement of Belarus in the activities of CBSS would help to settle urgent problems of the region in a more effective way. The Lithuanian Presidency would be glad to cooperate with the Observer States to hear their opinion on the possible closer involvement with the activities of the CBSS.

There are still other important questions we have to deal with. The question now is – how do we maintain this connectivity.  Do we have enough transport links? Do we have enough border crossings? Do we have enough people and cultural exchanges? The answer is no and no and no.

Today, each regional organization has to find a niche for its activities that would ensure maximum added value and synergies with other organizations. Therefore Riga Reform Declaration aimed at revitalizing the CBSS by ensuring its capacity to develop regionally important and strategic projects was timely and future oriented. At the same time, we are convinced that the political dialogue in the CBSS should not be weakened. It is important to continue having our Ministerial meetings aimed at discussing the future of the region and looking for concrete ways forward. 

Dear Colleagues,

The Baltic Sea region is quite rightly called one of the most dynamic and innovative European regions. Today, while confronted with economical and financial challenges, we should continue to look towards the future. In the course of recovery of state economies, competition between states and whole regions will rapidly grow as each of them will strive to occupy a better “starting-position”. We should identify priority fields that would require our increased attention and resources, because they will predetermine the dynamism of development both in the region and the whole Europe. We suppose the CBSS together with its partners could develop a vision of the future of the region where the response to the key challenges as well as fields of future cooperation is reflected.

 In our opinion, among the tasks of paramount importance to be included in such an overview, the problems of the energy and environment should be singled out. This concerns the use of alternative “green” resources which is of vital importance for the majority of states of our region who lack traditional natural resources as well as the security of energy supplies, but also for dealing with the problems related to climate change.

Next, the improvement of transport infrastructure should be given a special attention. Our aim is the full integration of the transport infrastructure of the Baltic Sea Region into the Transeuropean network. Travel by rail from Vilnius to Warsaw, Berlin, or Kaliningrad should be a matter of two to three hours, and not eight or twelve hours as it is today.

Then, last but far from the least, is the problem of the ways to increase people-to-people contacts as this gives knowledge by experience, enhances creative  powers,  helps foster civil societies, gives more self-reliance and unites efforts in striving for higher living standards.

For this, we need to ease communication across our borders. We need to continue visa acquirement facilitation for Kaliningrad Region and Belarus, to creating a visa free regime, starting with Kaliningrad and moving towards a wider visa free area around the Baltic.

Finally, there is the most important topic of innovations. We must be keen to build regional innovations networks by promoting deeper cross-Baltic cooperation and integration of universities, science and research centers, and improving knowledge mobility.

These main features of the future vision of our region are perfectly in accordance with the forthcoming EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. We believe that this regional strategy - the first of the kind in the history of the EU - will provide a new impulse for the extension of cooperation between all states in the Baltic Sea region. I believe the success of implementation of the Strategy will also depend on the success of joint projects with our Eastern neighbors. I therefore strongly support the intention of  the CBSS to join in the implementation of the Strategy.

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to briefly describe the priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency in the CBSS. They fully conform to the above-mentioned key challenges for the region. During the period of the Presidency, we will focus on the following issues.

Our first priority is cooperation in the sphere of innovations.  We have recently proposed to form an expert group within the CBSS on development of modern technologies and are currently working on its mandate. We will also arrange a number of seminars and conferences, among them “Innovations in the Baltic Sea Region: Shaping Future Transport Policy” in April 2010, “Perspectives of Creative Industries in the Baltic Sea Region” in January 2010, and others, such as on the issue of energy sector efficiency, or production and use of alternative energy sources.

The second priority is clean environment and safe living conditions.  Being one of the most dynamic and modern regions of Europe, our region is one of the most vulnerable as well. We cannot ignore a possible negative impact of the future large-scale infrastructure projects upon the nature of the seaside that, in its turn, would negatively impact the development of tourism and recreation industry in the region. In the period of our Presidency, we will be organizing several events such as a conference “Protection of the Baltic Sea Fish Stock and its Renewal” in April 2010, a  seminar “The Impact of the Development of Nuclear Power Plants in the Region” in spring 2010.

To ensure high-quality living environment, we have to take special care about the safety of our citizens young and old. The CBSS has already developed efficient instruments in this area, so we are pleased to be organizing in Vilnius, together with the corresponding CBSS structures, International Conference "Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety for Enhancing Civil Security” in September 2009, International Conference “Aftercare Support and Integration of Children Leaving Child Care Institutions” in October 2009, International Conference “Control and Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings. Regional Approach” in spring 2010, Meeting of Directors-General for Civil Protection “Public Safety during Disasters and Major Events” in spring 2010. We’ll also seek to have Observer States, especially the new ones, participating in these major events.

Thirdly, I consider strengthening of human communication and encouraging cross-border cooperation and free movement of people to be one of the key priorities of our Presidency. We are sure it will provide the basis for strengthening of mutual trust and understanding,  the transfer of advanced experience and good practices, will help preserve common cultural heritage together with strengthening of the new regional identity, and, on a more pragmatic note, will increase tourism in the region,.

As concerns tourism, we need to promote more actively the common historical and cultural heritage of the whole region by creating more tourist routs based on this regional identity and heritage, which, I am sure, will increase the attractiveness of the Baltic Sea Region even more. For this purpose, we will be organizing the 2nd Baltic Sea Region Tourism Forum on 24-25 September this year for detailed discussion on the said issues.

We would also like to pay a particular attention to strengthening communication between the young people in the region in order to make them active and responsible members of the Baltic Sea Region community. The project of Eurofaculty in Pskov which, we hope, will be a successful continuation of the very successful analogous project in Kaliningrad shall be helpful for the same purpose.

Dear Colleagues,

The Presidency of Lithuania will be concluded by the 8th Baltic Sea States Summit at the 1-2 June 2010. In parallel with the Summit we plan, in cooperation with my good friend Uffe Elemann-Jensen, to arrange Baltic Development Forum Summit – the so-called Davos of the Baltic Sea region - which will take place in Lithuania for the first time. In addition, The Baltic Sea Labour Network Conference, The IX Baltic Sea NGO Forum and an international youth good practice fair will be organized in Vilnius on the eve of the Summit. In my opinion, this will all help us to form a well-balanced multifaceted vision of the future development of the Baltic Sea region.

Thank you for attention.