Speaker of the Seimas,

Members of Parliaments, distinguished guests,

I am delighted to see so many of you here at the Inter-Parliamentary Conference for the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy in the historical Hall of the Act of 11 March of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

I am happy to note that Lithuania is presiding over the Council of the European Union at testing times when defence and security matters are particularly relevant and addressed at the highest level. Today, Europe is facing a number of challenges in the area of security and defence. Therefore, while prioritising enhanced security of all the citizens of the European Union, we should also search for the most effective ways of developing smooth cooperation between the EU and NATO. We should also discuss the ways of developing and enhancing joint capabilities to successfully deal with the possible new cyber, energy and other potential threats that might affect the security of individual Member States and the EU as a whole. It is important to ensure that the EU is expedient, flexible and united in facing new security challenges.

Some developments in Europe and worldwide raise concerns and may strongly affect the lives of every European citizen both in economic, social, and human terms. Therefore, the overarching objectives of security of the European citizens and the unity of the European Union should encourage us to accord more attention to the effectiveness of the EU Security and Defence Policy. A key objective is to seek common understanding on the review of the EU security strategies and propose tools to genuinely promote more effective and flexible use of the EU Battlegroups. Another important and relevant issue is the decrease in defence spending which is adversely affecting our military capabilities and weakening the defence industry. These are major challenges for the entire defence sector. Therefore, we need to jointly assess the situation and decide on the size of ambition in connection with defence.

Please be reminded that the ideas of a safe Europe are rooted in the early stages of development of the EU. The merger of the coal and steel industries as two most important sectors for Europe brought about positive political results both in terms of economy of the Community and greater security in Europe. Therefore, let us pool our efforts.

It is a major privilege and responsibility for Lithuania to organise as important a conference as this one. Today we can put the foundation for the December European Council on defence.

Thus, at this Conference we will hopefully find the solutions we all need and the year 2013 will hopefully be important in developing the Common Security and Defence Policy. I wish everyone a fulfilling debate on these relevant subjects.

Thank you.