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Rector, participants in the conference, and friends,

I am happy to be able to open this conference, which is an important and timely event against the background of the new possibilities for cooperation which are opening up in the Baltic Region. The theme of the conference reflects perfectly current pace of the European cooperation in the region.

To begin with, I would like to congratulate everyone on the occasion of European Day of the Sea, which will be celebrated soon, for the first time in history (on the 20th of May).

It is significant that we are talking about the future of the Baltic Region, maritime innovations, and the latest technologies. It is significant that we are looking for new partners and possibilities for cooperation. I would like to thank Klaipeda University and all the others who contributed to this event, with special thanks to the professor Rimantas Didžiokas, Pro-rector of the University. I am glad that the conference has brought together government bodies, business, scientists, and diplomats. Partnership like this is necessary, in order to achieve the best results. I hope that Klaipėda University will become a leading modern centre for research into the Baltic Sea Region, and I wish you every success.

Klaipėda is one of the oldest Lithuanian cities, with a history going back to 1252. It is responsible for the image of Lithuania as a maritime nation. It is impossible to overrate the importance of Klaipėda Sea Port for the development of the economy of modern Lithuania. According to figures for last year’s turnover, Klaipėda was rated third out of all the ports of the Eastern Baltic, after St Petersburg and Primorsk.

The rapid development of cruises over the last few years, which is helping to turn the city into an attractive destination for cruise ships, is also heartening. This summer, for the first time, the final leg of the Tall Ships Race will meet here and on the 5th of July we will welcome in Klaipėda participants in the Millennium Odyssey, the round-the-world yachting voyage which has brought together our fellow countrymen scattered around the world.  

Dear guests,

We are witnessing strengthening cooperation between regions in Europe. The Baltic Sea Region, which is often called the most dynamic region in Europe, is a leader in this process. By that, I mean the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, which is expected to be published in June. This Strategy is an internal European Union document. However, it is obvious that its implementation will require close cooperation with our neighbours, mainly with Russia and with Belarus, the only country in the region without direct access to the Baltic Sea. I am glad that Mr. Igor Yevgenievich Levitin, Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation has come to the conference.

In July, Lithuania will begin its presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. In the last decade, the Council has laid firm foundations for integration and cooperation in the region, while the enlargement of the European Union, which took place five years ago, gave an additional impulse to the consolidation of the region. We hope that it will remain the main format for political cooperation between states of the region. At the same time, the organisation’s practical activities have to be well adapted to work with the challenges facing the Baltic Sea Region. Let me present the main tasks of Lithuania’s presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. 

Firstly, cooperation in the area of innovations. This is a particularly promising and important sphere, to ensure that the Baltic Sea Region becomes the most open, progressive and competitive region in Europe, functioning successfully and enhancing the well-being of its citizens in the “flat” global world. Taking this into account, not long ago we put forward a proposal to set up an expert group within the framework of the Council of the Baltic Sea States to deal with issues of the development and implementation of modern technologies.

I am convinced that our region will become a centre for attractive, market-oriented, commercial ideas. In our work, we must implement state-of-the-art scientific ideas and innovations, which would enable businesses in the region to compete, producing high-value added products. We must pay more attention not only to the development of scientific potential, but also to the development of the infrastructure supporting it, as well as to the legal environment, and also to improving people’s skills.

In this context, it is important to promote cooperation between companies, research institutes, and universities, using for this purpose various national and international instruments. I hope that this conference will encourage the region’s states to combine their efforts in this field. It would help the Baltic Sea Region to maintain dynamic economies, to strengthen their competitiveness, and to ensure the harmonious development of the region.

Our second priority, to which we will devote much attention during our presidency, is a clean and safe environment. The Baltic Sea Region, one of the most dynamic and modern in Europe, is also one of the most vulnerable. Close attention must be paid to the complicated situation of the Baltic Sea. The chemical weapons dumped in the sea and the large-scale infrastructure projects that are planned make it even more complicated. This may harm the ecosystem of all the sea, and affect economic activities, which will affect our fishermen. The possible adverse effect on nature on the coast should also not be discounted, for in its turn it could exert a negative influence on the development of the tourism and hotel industry in the region. Everyone seeks to ensure that our region is not only clean, but also safe and secure. During the Presidency we plan several conferences, emphasizing importance of the radiation safety and a necessity to unite efforts of the region in combating crime.

Thirdly, I consider the strengthening of personal links and cross-border collaboration, as well as promoting the free movement of people, a major task for our presidency. We remember well how, after the reestablishment of our country’s independence, we sought wider ties and collaboration possibilities with Western partners. It is only natural that we started to establish these ties here, in the Baltic Sea Region. I believe that the time has come to offer better possibilities to our Eastern neighbours, the people of Russia and Belarus.

Lithuania always speaks in support of reducing obstacles in the way of the free movement of people. We keep raising this issue at European Union institutions, in order to make the visa regime with the Kaliningrad enclave of the Russian Federation and Belarus easier. Five years ago, we solved the issue of passenger and freight transit to the Kaliningrad Region, which then seemed to be impossible to solve. Today, we can, and we have to, continue this work.

I am happy that, as early as this year, the number of bureaucratic obstacles, which the inhabitants by Lithuania’s borders with the Kaliningrad region and Belarus have to overcome, should be reduced. It will be much simpler and easier for them to travel within a radius of fifty kilometres from the state border with the 5 year validity permits that will cost only 20 euros. I hope that the border regions will profit from this. The most important thing, however, is that new bridges between people will be built.

It is vital to make the visa regime simpler and, in the future, to abolish it for all citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus, and to create the right conditions for them to become participants in European cooperation enjoying full rights. The Baltic Sea Region has all the right conditions to become a good starting point for such collaboration.

This would enable us to make better use of the huge potential of the region in the areas of personal, educational, and cultural exchanges, and in tourism. In talking about tourism, I think we could systemise and advertise the common historical and cultural heritage of the region and its separate parts. This would help us to discover new ties joining the region, and to make it more attractive to tourists.

In September this year, we are planning to hold a second conference on tourism in the Baltic Sea Region, at which we hope these issues will be thoroughly discussed. It is especially encouraging that in the near future we will be able to develop navigation in the Curonian Lagoon. Before the opening of this conference, I and Mr. Minister Igor Levitin exchanged notes on the respective agreement, which will open up attractive, new cooperation possibilities for Western Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Region.

Dear Participants,

Since the beginning of civilisation, the sea has been one of the main roads connecting people and nations. It still is. Personal contacts have changed, and new possibilities are appearing, thanks to modern technologies and globalisation. It is important to use them in such a way that they join, and do not separate, people who live around the sea, and help to foster human values and open societies, societies which are open to modern ideas and thinking.

I wish the participants in the conference many practical and fruitful discussions.

Thank you.