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Assistant Secretary Iklódy, Minister Jukneviciene, Ambassador Bruzga,
Colleagues,
Dear participants of the Conference,

I am honored to open this Conference organized by our newly established Energy Security Center in partnership with NATO and one of the great contributors to NATO operations – Ukraine. Using this occasion I would like to thank our partners for their support to this timely event.

In Lisbon NATO agreed that stable and reliable energy supply, diversification of routes, suppliers and energy resources, and the interconnectivity of energy networks are of critical importance. In the new Strategic Concept the Alliance agreed to continue to consult on the prime risks in the field of energy security in accordance with previous decisions.

Energy security debate is one of the priorities for Lithuania as we strive to achieve our national energy efficiency. We are looking for smart energy solutions and the new sources that would provide larger degree of energy autonomy and sufficiency. These same demands today are relevant to our military, both at home and on distant duty. I know that exploring energy efficiency for military applications is somewhat innovative subject even for NATO. Because of that I am particularly pleased that Lithuania is one of the first Allies to initiate this discussion.

NATO’s new Strategic Concept states that ability to deploy and sustain robust military forces in the field is among key objectives for the Alliance. Lithuania is among those NATO members, which took on the responsibility to lead a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan. This is by far our largest commitment to out-of-area operations.

Firsthand experience tells us that maintaining military and civilians in far-away missions is a great challenge. But our practical knowledge serves as an encouragement to look for innovative solutions. With difficult economic situation worldwide it is important to make the best use of new technologies not only in civilian life, but also in military.

Solving military and civilian challenges is precisely where we expect our Energy Security Center to make a reasonable contribution to the Alliance. Together with our Ministry of Defense we have initiated a process to seek Center’s accreditation with NATO as the Center of Excellence for Energy Security. As such, the Center would work to combine national efforts to bring energy innovations and best practices to all NATO forces. 

To be effective, NATO needs to join efforts and make the best of resources available, particularly in the military area. I believe that today’s conference will be one of the first but significant steps towards more effective and capable Alliance. Over two days you will have good opportunity to observe the newest technologies and to share ideas that might prove to be critical to our military in operations.

I would like to see the results of this conference reflected in further NATO deliberations on Energy security issues and included in the report that will be submitted for consideration at NATO Summit in Chicago next year. Thank you.