News

Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Members of the Parliament,
Distinguished Ambassadors,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, I would like to commend the initiative to hold such a discussion in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. I am convinced that thisdiscussion will be of benefit to all: those who participate directly in it and those in Lithuania and abroad who take interest in its course. A draftresolution submitted to the Seimas and the statement made by the parliamentary political groups last week, are timely and ambitious documentsof great importance to our political life. I want to single out in particular that both documents demonstrate the shared goal of all political forces of Lithuania to join the European Unionwith the first wave of new members. That is a strategic answer to a strategic question. Almost a year ago, the President of the Republic ofLithuania noted in his state-of-the-nation address that “Lithuania can avoid the fate of a provincial laggard only by catching a high-speed train of Europe and being a fully paid-up passenger on that train.” By the end of last year, the coalition Government approved all the position papers of Lithuania, including those on agriculture, taxation, justice and home affairs, and financial and budgetary provisions. It was a serious challenge with which Lithuania dealt constructively. Therefore the significance of the agreement of the absolute majority of the Seimas’ members to accelerate the efforts in the field of the EUintegration and to strengthen practical support for it could be hardly underestimated. This agreement demonstrates the responsibility andmaturity of our policies. Having passed the milestones of Helsinki and Nice, now we have an opportunity to catch the first train of enlargement. Not only do we havethis opportunity, but also must use it not to be left in waiting for the arrival of another TGV. We know well at what speed the train is movingand we can plan our steps. In Nice, the EU member states sent a clear political signal by reaching a consensus on the EU institutional reforms and expressing the hope that the first group of new EU members would join the Union in time to participate in the elections to the European Parliament in the spring of 2004.The EU Enlargement Strategy states that negotiations with the best-prepared candidates may be completed in 2002, that is next year.Negotiations will be followed by ratification of accession treaties, which will take a year or a year and a half. Thus a new round of enlargementof the European Union may be expected at the end of 2003 or at the start of 2004. Scenarios of the EU enlargement will acquire a more concrete shape in Göteborg this June and in the regular opinions, which the EuropeanCommission will issue later this year. It is obvious that now months and not years or semesters have become the key measure of time. The importance of the next few months was also underscored by a number of my colleagues - foreign ministers of the EU member states, as well as the EU Commissioner for Enlargement. This will also be the topic of my discussion with the German foreign minister whom I shall meet in three days. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Nice Summit started a new phase in the reflections about the future of the European Union. The European Union was changing, ischanging and will be changing, and we are directly concerned with the ways in which it is changing and the direction in which it is moving. Future voting allocations decided on in Nice provide for an adequate representation of Lithuania in the EU institutions in the future and make agood start for its participation in the EU decision making process. But we will still have to learn how to use the votes. Exercising them is directlyrelated to our preparedness and ability to execute our sovereign powers. This communitarisation of the sovereign powers of the member statesis one of the conditions, which provides for the strengthening of Europe’s role on the arena of global politics. The agenda of the current discussion defined by the Nice Summit includes such items as the Constitution of the European Union, clearerdivision of responsibilities among the European Union, the member states and the regions, as well as the role of national parliaments. Thisdiscussion, which is also referred to as the “post-Nice process” centers not only and maybe not so much on the institutional issues as onconstitutional issues in the broad sense. Therefore a very important facet of this pan-European reflection is the widest possible circle of participants who should include not onlyrepresentatives of the national governments but also members of political parties, academic institutions, interest groups and media from boththe EU member states and the candidate countries. This process will culminate at the Intergovernmental Conference in 2004. I am convincedthat its participants will include not only the current 15 member states, but also new members, Lithuania among them. Distinguished Members of the Seimas, Next year will be crucial for us in terms of membership of the European Union. I must say that next year we expect to achieve significant resultsin other areas of our foreign policy that are closely related to and vital for ensuring the security and economic wellbeing of Lithuania. Theyinclude membership of NATO as well as stability and co-operation around Lithuania. In the near future, the eastern border of Lithuania will become the eastern border of the EU and NATO. We have to be aware of ourresponsibility – our borders should be open to business and cultural contacts, but must be closed to crime and illicit migration. Kaliningrad is a concrete example. It is a specific issue of the Baltic Sea region, which was defined with competence in the context of the EUenlargement in a recently issued document of the European Commission. This document lists a number of well-detailed questions to be properlyanswered by the European Union, Russia, Poland and Lithuania. The issue of the Kaliningrad region has been included in the agenda of theBaltic Sea States and the Northern Dimension. Distinguished Members of the Seimas, A draft resolution of the Seimas lists the laws that should be adopted by way of priority. Each of the said legal acts is specified in our positionpapers and discussed with the European Commission. Not only as a diplomat, but also as a politician, I am convinced that these laws are needed not so much for the negotiations as for our peopleand for the progress of our country. We integrate into the EU not because the Union or the European Commission wishes so. We should notforget that in the European Union itself there are interest groups which, mildly speaking, would not get too much upset if Lithuania appeared at the EU table a few years later. Therefore it is very important, in my opinion, that the political parties have acknowledged that everything we undertake within the framework of the EU integration is done first and foremost for the benefit of our well-being since “integration into the EU allows to secure political, economicand social stability and to improve the quality of life of the people of Lithuania.” When we speak about the advantages of the EU membershipwe all know what they are: the Community acquis, which we will be able to influence only after joining the EU. And we also speak about thesteps to be taken for our benefit. It sometimes seems that we negotiate not with the European Commission or the EU, but with ourselves. And such negotiations are the mostdifficult of all. How else can we account for the fact of being among the last in Europe to introduce obligatory third party liability insurance andthe only candidate country which has imposed constitutional restrictions on the land [capital] market? Do we need hunger strikes at the Company Inkaras or even here, at the Seimas, to realize that we need civilized laws on enterprise restructuring and bankruptcy? All of these issues are related to the fundamental freedoms of the single market of the European Union: free movement of goods, services,capital and persons. Our progress in these fields will decide to a large extent not only the success of the negotiations but also smoothintegration of our economy into the European area. Amending the Constitution of Lithuania requires a high degree of coherence between themajority and the opposition. Positive steps in this direction are laid down in the above-mentioned statement of the Seimas’ parliamentarygroups. A considerable load of work awaits us not only in law making but also in other areas. The situation requires pooling of the efforts of allgovernmental institutions. A month ago, when addressing all the heads of diplomatic missions of Lithuania, I underscored the significance ofthis period and our responsibility. We have a strong chief negotiator and the negotiations delegation who assists him. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegated to thenegotiations team experienced diplomats. Our neighbour Sweden who now presides over the European Union shows interest in our membershipand a breakthrough in the accession talks. The situation is indeed favourable for progress in the negotiations, but the final result is in ourhands. Ladies and Gentlemen, The plans of this Seimas and this Government are in line with actual scenarios of the EU enlargement. Next year, we should conclude theaccession negotiations and sign the Accession Treaty that we aspire to have ratified by 2003. I believe that attainment of these goals is notonly our duty. Let it be a personal motive and ambition of each and every of us. Thank you for this opportunity to share my views with you. Thank for your attention.