Plenary Sitting of the NATO PA Spring Session devotes special attention to Ukraine

The Seimas hosts the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA). Talking from the rostrum of the historical Hall of the Act of 11 March, NATO PA President Hugh Bayley gave much attention to Ukraine and Russia. He underlined that for twenty-five years the Alliance had been aiming at partnership with Russia but the events in Ukraine made it impossible at that moment: “We cannot continue business as usual with Parliamentarians from a NATO partner country, Russia, when they vote to use military force against another NATO partner, Ukraine.”

Hugh Bayley openly wondered at Russia trying to escape responsibility for the events in Crimea: “Russian troops seized Crimea by force, and now the Russian government apparently expects the international community to believe that the “spontaneous” appearance of heavily armed, well-trained, uniformed militias has nothing to do with Russia.”

The NATO PA President said the Alliance should offer assistance to Ukraine in entrenching the values of human rights, individual liberty, democracy and the rule of law. It is also important to help Ukraine shake free of its energy dependence upon Russia.

Welcoming the participants of the event, Seimas Speaker Loreta Graužinienė underlined that the experience gained and the lessons learned during 10 years of membership, as well as the recent events in the immediate neighbourhood of Lithuania in particular, made it possible for us to clearly understand that NATO membership did not only represent security guarantees and support of the Allies. “It is also our commitment to jointly contribute to the stronger Alliance and to share the responsibility for security with those in need of our support today. First of all, I am talking about Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Support to these countries constitutes an important part of Lithuania’s foreign policy. These are the countries which should receive special international attention due to their clear choice to build their future based on democratic values,” said Loreta Graužinienė.

The Seimas Speaker asserted that “Lithuania strongly supports the efforts of the Government of Ukraine to achieve a wide-ranging national dialogue and welcomes the successful conduct of the presidential elections at such a challenging time for the country.”

Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius stressed that the turmoil instigated by Russia in Ukraine had undermined security and stability in Europe: “Now, more than ever, we are convinced of the importance of increasing the number of NATO’s collective defence exercises and developing long-term defence plans for the Baltic region.”

According to the Prime Minister, Lithuania is very serious about both its own security and the security of NATO’s eastern border. Therefore, in March this year, seven Lithuanian parliamentary parties signed the Accord on Foreign, Security and Defence Policy committing to consistently and annually increase allocations for national defence for them to reach 2% of GDP by 2020.

Algirdas Butkevičius believes that, during the NATO Summit in Wales in September, solidarity must be maintained on the following key issues: enhancement of collective defence capabilities and ensuring security of our allies; retaining support to Ukraine; and ensuring the credibility of NATO partnerships and open-door policy.

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, Office of the Seimas, tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: [email protected]