Address of Mr Arturas Paulauskas President of the Lithuanian Seimas

Excellency President, eminent members and guests of the Assembly,

My addressing you in Lithuanian is a way to attract the attention of Europe to our language, one of the most archaic live European languages. The preservation of minor European languages is our priority that is stated in the programme for the Chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, as well.

Strasbourg, gathering representatives of European democracies today, has a historical meaning in Europe and is special due to numerous factors, particularly, because this city, which once was the object of wars and which still preserves some powerful defence installations, has now become the point of European reconciliation and unity.

When taking over the Chairmanship in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the 8^th November 2001, Lithuania expressed its determination to continue fostering common principles and ideas of the Council of Europe, to work actively on its behalf, and, being an old European state, to make its own contribution to the functioning of the organisation, to share the experience of the state which restored its independence 12 years ago and is firmly resolved to be a member of the community of European sates.

We consider Strasbourg a symbol of European values - an expression of European democracy, justice and unity. Due to intensive co-operation with the Council of Europe, these values have already become an everyday reality in Lithuania. Today we are already able to enrich Europe with our cultural wealth that has been shaped by our unique historical experience.

For long, Lithuania has been on the crossroads of cultures, civilisations and trade routes. In terms of the history of Eastern and Western Europe, the location of Vilnius on the junction of states, cultures and religions is special indeed. Vilnius, too, has been the object of wars; it is also a multicultural city, where traditions of tolerance and peaceful coexistence of different nations and cultures have been upheld for ages. As early as the fourteenth century, grand duke of Lithuania Gediminas, like a herald of the unification of Europe, invited various craftsmen and artists to come to Lithuania and promised them the guarantees of their rights and freedoms. From that time on, people of various nations and religions have been living peacefully in the region of Vilnius, where Polish, Jewish, Russian, Karaite, Tartar, Belarussian, Ukrainian cultures are nurtured. After Lithuania restored its independence and consolidated friendly relations with its neighbours, Vilnius became an important regional centre joining Northern, Eastern and Central European political dimensions.

We are the organisers of numerous regional and subregional initiatives. The Republic of Lithuania places particular emphasis on regional co-operation. Within the region of the Baltic Sea, effective governmental and parliamentary mechanisms of co-operation are in operation. Lithuania has gathered ample experience in this field. The cooperation with the Nordic countries, Baltic States, Poland, Ukraine, Russian Kaliningrad region, Belarus is a shining example of this experience, which we are ready to share in solving the problems of hot points in Europe where no peaceful dialogue has been attained yet.

An important role in the creation of stable and democratic Europe is played by the co-operation between regions and individual states, the cornerstones of which are good neighbourly relations and the spirit of forming a common future. Changes in Europe are an additional spur for regional development, while regional co-operation adds to stability, stimulates democratic reforms and bolsters mutual confidence. We are pleased that today regional relations constitute a part and parcel of the dynamic European integration processes.

In this respect, Lithuania, as a member of the Council of Europe and a neighbour of Belarus, has its own special mission to perform. We should not isolate this country of the developing democratic processes taking place all over Europe. Although tangible changes in Belarus can be foreseen only in the long run, the intensification of contacts with this state would broaden the potential of an international impact on Belarus.