Honourable Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland,
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukrain,
Members of delegations to the Assembly,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to cordially welcome our historical neighbours to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. I am delighted that the Assembly of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has finally arrived to Lithuania. We are honoured to organise it at the very moment when all the three nations commemorate and celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Grunewald. I hope that not only will it be a chronological concurrence but also one more testament to our common historical destiny, for the battle of Grunewald has always been and will continue to be not only the heritage of our three nations but also an undeniable symbol of the political unity between Central and Eastern Europe.
Today, the historical tradition of the union of our nations requires that we follow modern directions in our joint activities. Being members of the EU, Lithuania and Poland are already pursuing it whether better or worse. However, we must admit that there are still many obstacles in Ukraine’s path towards the EU. Although this is the reality we are facing today, once again we must clearly state that until Ukraine becomes full member of the EU, the construction of our common house of security will be far from over. Therefore, the principal mission of this Assembly is to put all possible efforts to facilitate and speed up Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
It is obvious that the EU’s decision not to offer Ukraine remote membership prospects, at least in the long-run, cannot be a final one. The EU must take a clear decision as to where the boundaries of Europe begin and where they end. Meanwhile, until all the member states reach a consensus on this issue, it is necessary to do our utmost, i.e. to focus on the enlargement of the EU’s free trade area and the establishment of a visa-free regime between the EU and Ukraine. The EU must open up its market as widely as possible and perceive this partial open-up not as an alternative to Ukraine’s membership in the EU but as a transition in Ukraine’s consistent way towards the full membership. Today this is probably the best way of escaping this vicious circle where the EU does not offer a prospect of a membership and Ukraine does not have a motivation to gradually come closer to adhering to the EU rules.
Of course the game ball is not only in the hands of the EU. In the pursuit of elevating the relations between the EU and Ukraine to a higher level and bringing them closer, strong political and economic reforms are needed in this country.
Without a doubt, this Assembly may speed up Ukraine’s euro-integration. It would be wonderful if the Assembly does not confine itself merely to an annual forum and that new activity directions are found. Good examples are not few and far between. You are all well aware that the five Nordic countries and three Baltic States have been cooperating successfully in the NB8 group for several years. Not only do the heads of the parliaments of these countries meet once a year but they also organise joint visits to strategically important countries. Over the last several years, joint visits of the Nordic and Baltic States to the USA, Ukraine and Georgia were organised. These visits demonstrate the regional cooperation of the Nordic and Baltic States, attract the political attention of strategically important countries or politically support those in need of it. Why not transposing this pattern into practice of the trilateral relations between Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine? I believe that these joint visits to the leading countries of the EU would give an opportunity to break the ice in the issue of Ukraine’s integration into the EU in some member states and reveal the benefits of the integration for the EU’s welfare and security.
Actually, we should not forget that the building of our common house of security is not over yet as regards the geographical enlargement of the EU and its domestic problems. Ukraine is still separated from us politically by the border of the EU while, in terms of energy, the Baltic States are still an energy island isolated from Europe. Here are several facts to prove that. The electric power system of the Baltic States is still connected to the post soviet system and is not part of the Western system. Meanwhile, we buy gas from a single supplier. Probably, this would not be an issue if the supplier followed the principles of market economy and not economy politicisation and “energy diplomacy”. An obvious outcome of this situation is the fact that the Baltic States pay for gas to Russia more than Germany or other EU member states do.
Another category of negative tendencies includes the new energy infrastructure projects (Nord Stream and South Stream), which seek to bypass energy transit countries and thus increase the pressure and terms imposed on them. Unfortunately, very often the relations with the EU are developed through capitals, which impedes or disrupts the unity of the EU’s energy policy.
These are but a few aspects which once again point to the fact that today energy is one of the key challenges to the security of Central and Eastern Europe and without energy independence no political self-sufficiency is possible. This is why we have chosen energy security as the focus of this Assembly. I hope that with the help of Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian experts of energy security, together we will be able to find a common denominator to assess the challenges of energy security and develop a strategy to overcome them.
I genuinely hope that this Assembly will become though a small but a real step forward in this direction.
Thank you.
Irena Degutienë
Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania
