Vilnius, 6
July 2007
Your Excellencies Ambassadors,
It is my real pleasure to meet
you on such a special day. Today we are celebrating the King Mindaugas
Coronation Day, the day when the only king of Lithuania was crowned. This took
place as far back as in July 1253. Since 1990 this day has been one of the most
important public holidays in Lithuania – its Statehood Day. We believe it was a
significant achievement of the Lithuanian State because it provided with an
opportunity for Lithuania to integrate into the European Christian culture and
to develop its Baltic culture at the same time.
Having recalled the epoch, the
personality of King Mindaugas, the power of his political strategy and spirit,
and the value of the first international recognition of Lithuania we can
understand the significance of today’s life as well as the significance of the
statehood of Lithuania. Lithuania’s road to freedom and independence was long
and difficult. Nevertheless, it has taught us to perceive the state as one of
the biggest values determining not only the life of the nation and of each
individual citizen, but determining security and welfare too.
It has been for three years now
since Lithuania joined the EU and NATO. We have virtually stopped referring to
ourselves as new member states. And this is not only because Romania and
Bulgaria joined the EU after us, but because we do not feel newcomers any more.
We were hardened by our negotiations on EU membership, by the implementation of
reforms, by shaping the joint EU Constitution, and further negotiations on its
future. We are taking an active part in NATO activities and international
peacekeeping missions. Since 2005 we have been leading the Provincial
Reconstruction Team in the Ghore Province in Afghanistan.
We are concerned about the future
of Europe, which will depend on how the Reform Treaty will be drafted and
implemented. The future of Europe will depend on cooperation with the
transatlantic partners and on processes in the neighbouring countries.
Lithuania is not a big country;
therefore it is only natural that we concentrate our capacities in the spheres
we consider most useful. The European Neighbourhood Policy, its Eastern
dimension in particular, is one of such areas, since we know the region fairly
well and understand the processes that are taking place there better than the
countries which are further away do.
We remember our difficult first
steps towards civic and democratic maturity, the complicated situation our
country was in when some neighbouring countries and internal powers did not
approve of the road we had chosen. Currently, a similar situation is developing
in the countries neighbouring the EU: Ukraine, Moldova and South Caucasus. We
are well aware that the economic, social and political problems that had been
accumulating for decades now have to be solved simultaneously. It is a very
difficult process.
We are interested in democratic
changes in Eastern Europe and we are committed to sharing our experience with
those who are in need. It is one of the key objectives of the Lithuanian
foreign policy. Our activities in this area are annually increasing in number. The
diversity of programs and the geography of support are expanding. We are
pleased to see that the interests of Lithuania coincide with the interests and
activities of other European countries and transatlantic partners.
The Seimas of Lithuania plays a particularly
important role in democracy’s way to the East. Inter-parliamentary ties and
multilateral forums enable us to exchange experience of parliamentary work.
Pursuing to accelerate this process we have established the Centre for
Inter-parliamentary Cooperation. Its main function is to give MPs and
parliamentary staffs from Ukraine, Moldova and the South Caucasus states access
to the experience of the Lithuanian parliament. I would like to highlight one
area which has not been exploited to the full. It is party cooperation, which
could be very efficient in developing political culture and traditions in the
region. The Centre for Inter-parliamentary Cooperation is also tasked with the
implementation of EU twinning programmes, which could open the door to EU
funding. I personally would like to add that we would welcome the decision of
other international partners and non-governmental foundations to join this
project.
Back to the EU Eastern
neighbourhood, I have been visiting Georgia and Moldova recently. I have talked
to the leaders and parliamentarians of those countries. The progress is
apparent everywhere. The implementation of reforms is in process. For our part,
we should not forget means of support, such as a facilitated visa regime for
Georgia and autonomous trade preferences for Moldova. To implement reforms,
both the governments and common people need to have a clear motivation,
therefore we have to recognize the progress achieved and to raise our relations
to a new level. Lithuania has been consistently speaking in favour of the
European perspective for Georgia and Moldova.
We have been intently following a
complex political process in Ukraine. I believe that the outcome of this test
of democracy will not change Ukraine’s strategic goals, European and
transatlantic integration. However, it might influence the pace of approaching
the goals. We believe that the main political powers of Ukraine will bring
their agreement into life, which will allow for early elections that will
enable further reforms and constructive work in the country. The Seimas is
interested in developing trilateral parliamentary dialogue among Lithuania,
Poland and Ukraine.
Belarus, which is very close to
us in terms of geography, is an individual case. We have already realized that
an isolation policy is not effective and that relations with the opposition
forces are not enough. Lithuania is in favour of making the EU–Belarus
relations more active, which depends on Belarus itself. We are looking for new
forms of dialogue. Mutually beneficial economic and investment ties could
effectively bring Belarus closer to the Western countries. Visa facilitation
for Belarus citizens is critical for democracy development since people would
be able to come to their neighbouring EU member states and witness the
advantages of democracy. We are going to defend this viewpoint in the future.
Another matter important for the
future of the EU is energy security. You are most likely aware of the fact that
the Baltic States are an energy island connected to the rest of the EU by a
single electricity cable connecting Estonia and Finland. Lithuania, Poland and
Sweden want to implement two power bridge projects. Those are of utmost
importance to the three Baltic States since after Lithuania shuts down the
Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant in 2009, it will have to look for new
possibilities of importing power. With the old nuclear power plant closed,
Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland are going to build two new power units,
which would satisfy the power needs of Lithuania and partly the needs of the
neighbouring countries. A week ago, by majority vote, the Seimas of the
Republic of Lithuania adopted the law setting up provisions on the construction
of a new nuclear power plant. I think it was a very significant step in the
implementation of the project, which is important for the entire region.
We are happy about the farsighted
decision of the government of Lithuania to build an offshore oil terminal near
Bûtingë. Had it not been for
the oil terminal, the Maþeikiai Oil Refinery would be in big trouble as the
supply of Russian crude oil through the oil pipeline Druzhba has been disrupted
for a year already.
We are looking for alternative
routes for our gas supplies. The common EU energy market is impossible without
the integration of isolated markets of individual member states. This is
particularly relevant in the gas sector; therefore we work on making sure that
interconnection between the Lithuanian and Polish gas pipelines becomes the
project of European interest.
In October this year Lithuania
and Poland together are planning to arrange a summit meeting on energy issues.
The main aim of this summit is to jointly find measures and ways which would
enhance successful and mutually beneficial cooperation between the main energy
producers, consumers and transit countries in the energy sector. We are also
planning to invite leaders and other high ranking officials from the EU member
states, the USA, Russia, Norway, Canada and from some Middle East countries.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As the person who is the leader
of the Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, I wish to list a few most significant
outcomes of the Seimas session we have just completed. The 6th
session of the Seimas was exceptional in a sense that we had to work with the
ruling minority and we still had to deal with complicated matters. Beside the
Law on the Nuclear Power Plant, the pieces of legislation amending regional
development, social insurance pensions, health and maternity insurance were
adopted. The Seimas working group drafted the amendments to the Law on Road
Traffic Safety and the Administrative Offence Code aimed at effective fight
against speeding and at ensuring road safety. The draft resolution providing a
possibility for individuals to lodge constitutional appeals was approved too.
The draft resolution on amending the scheme of how to improve Lithuanian
region/county administration, which tasks the Government with the preparation
of the concept of the improvement and the plan for its implementation was
passed about a week ago. The session saw the first voting on the amendments to
the Constitution, which is needed for meeting public expectations to elect the
head of their local authority directly, that is, direct election of Lithuanian
mayors.
The Seimas hosted numerous
important international events and delegations from March to June this year.
The most noteworthy event was the commemoration of the 50th
anniversary of the Rome Treaty and the 3rd anniversary of
Lithuania’s membership of NATO, which coincided with the visit of the President
of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso.
I must highlight the marking of
the Government Deed adopted by the Polish Crown and the Seimas of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania on 3 May 1791, referred to as the May 3 Constitution, and
the third anniversary of Lithuania’s EU membership – the tele-bridge that
linked Vilnius and Warsaw.
In conclusion I want to share a
joyful piece of news with you. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation
in Europe Parliamentary Assembly yesterday took a decision to hold its session
in Vilnius in 2009. May I point out
that the agenda of the OSCE PA, uniting states from a broad region extending
from Central Asia to the USA and Canada, covers issues that are Lithuanian
foreign policy priorities such as security, stability, promotion of trust among
nations, human rights, and development of democracy.
Your Excellencies, thank you for
paying a visit to the Seimas. I hope the programme of the annual meeting of the
Ambassadors to Lithuania will offer an opportunity to you to spend some time in
Vilnius and to get better acquainted with our capital.
I wish you good festive
impressions.
Thanks for your attention.
