Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before and especially after the restoration of Lithuanian independence in 1990 some of our politicians studied very attentively the example of the French-German reconciliation with the aim to facilitate its expansion to the East. We were very glad to witness the new type of German-Polish relations and have done our best in order to prolong this wave of reconciliation to the North-East over the borders of Lithuania.

Now, 12 years after, the Lithuanians can make quite a proud statement, that we achieved a lot in implementing this aim. Vilnius and Warsaw achieved Lithuanian – Polish reconciliation. Lithuania maintains good relations with all countries of the Baltic – Central European region. It is also important, that there are no major problems in the relations with national minorities within the country. All, who applied, were able to obtain the Lithuanian citizenship without any restrictions.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus called Poland our “historically closest neighbour”. And indeed we lived together as Polish – Lithuanian Commonwealth (Confederation) for over two centuries. The first half of the 20th century unfortunately was marked by deep animosity and military conflicts in Vilnius and Vilnius region. Up to now for both Lithuanians and Poles an emotional evaluation of historical facts is the rule, the rewards for part victories and searches for culprits of failures are still being distributed. The interval between the restoration of the diplomatic relations in September 1991 and signing of the Treaty of Friendly Relations in April 1994 was the most difficult period for modern Lithuanian-Polish relations. The both governments had to finish settling the “frozen” cases from the beginning of the 20th century.

The aim of the Treaty was to end too emotional discussions on the past relations of the two nations and to direct the attention and the energy towards the future. After this act, Lithuania and Poland were actually ready for further expansion of bilateral cooperation to the essential for both sides “strategic partnership”, which envisages the common future for both countries in the EU and NATO.

At the same time Vilnius and Warsaw stressed, that intensification of bilateral relations was not an alternative to the cooperation of the Baltic States and that this cooperation was only an expansion in the direction of Central Europe.

Lithuania maintains positive, good neighbourly relations with all the countries of the region. They are excellent, as to our cooperation with our Nordic neighbours – Latvia, Estonia and Scandinavian states. Overcoming the shadows of the past,Vilnius developed realistic and businesslike relations with Moscow. A very important treaty on borders was signed.We cooperate quite intensively with the Kaliningrad region, which will be surrounded by the EU countries in two years. Lithuania managed to maintain pragmatic relations with the most complicated neighbour – Belarus, especially with the NGOs, encouraging every step towards democracy and reforms.

The litmus test of the maturity of every nation in transition is in our opinion the confrontation with the negative sides of its history. For many states of Central Europe especially important is the attitude towards the Holocaust education, harmonization of relations with Jewish communities inside and outside the country. The Government of Lithuania rejects a history conscience, which is based on nationalistic myths, stereotypes and prejudices, which are not able to evaluate critically the past of the nation, which considers the own nation as an internal victim of the history, which lets us escape from moral responsibility for crimes, committed by our fellow citizens. In our understanding, the reconciliation depends first of all on our own efforts to overcome the past.

The special day of immense significance in the relations of Lithuania with Israel, with Jewish communities in the world was the 30th of January this year, when over 300 torah scrolls, preserved in Lithuania during Nazi occupation and in hard times after, were handed over to Israel. Now we are dealing with other important issues – the restitution of Jewish communal property and rebuilding of Jewish quarter in Vilnius. Lithuanian government is continuing to pay a special attention to the Holocaust education. The recognition of the progress of Lithuania is the fact, that we are invited to join the International Task Force.

I must admit, that we in Lithuania still have serious problems with part of our fellow citizens, who are not immune against the virus of xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism. Very few, but nevertheless some of Lithuanian politicians try to play this dangerous card on the eve of presidential elections. This position, unfortunately, was boosted by recent unexpected success of Mr. Le Pen in France.

Lithuania is in the process of preparation for entering the EU and NATO. We are doing our homework seriously and honestly, carrying into these two organizations not a burden of unsettled domestic and international problems, but positive experience of reconciliation with neighbours and developing intensive regional cooperation.