The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania,

having regard to the fact that ever since the re-establishment of Lithuania’s independence the main goals of its foreign policy - full membership of the European Union and NATO as well as relations of good neighbourliness have been consistently pursued;

backed by the firm support of the people in realising the priority goals of its foreign policy;

emphasising the unity of political parties which was crowned with the success of Euro-Atlantic integration and their ability to reach consensus on foreign policy;

noting the successful outcome of the realisation of the key goals of foreign policy now that Lithuania has become a full member of NATO and the European Union,

declares that in the near future, the Republic of Lithuania, being a full member of the European Union and of the Euro-Atlantic community of NATO, and continuing to pursue its policy of good neighbourliness, will seek:

- to become an active country, visible in the world and influential in the region;

- to  continue expanding the zone of security and stability in Europe and its neighbourhood;

- to benefit from all the opportunities and resources accorded by the European Union and NATO in order to turn Lithuania, within a reasonably short time period, into a secure, flourishing, competitive and modern economy;

- to disseminate Lithuanian culture and secure a place for the Lithuanian language in the global world;

- aware of  the global character of threats in the modern world, to take an active part in counteracting  them;

- to continue an active international co-operation in the fight against terrorism;

- to continue to be an active member of the international community, effectively contributing to the response to crises, crisis management and peace keeping operations;

- to take an active part in promoting the mutually beneficial partnership between the European Union and Russia, to continue co-operation with the Kaliningrad Region and other north-western regions of Russia;

- in the follow up to the partnership formed in Vilnius, to promote the policy of solidarity, confidence and transparency, to advance democratic values, to continue co-operation with the countries  lying off the eastern border of the European Union, aiming at their rapprochement with the European Union,  and to draw  the three Transcaucasian republics - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia into the European Union initiative of neighbourliness;  

declares, that the Republic of Lithuania, being a full member of  the European Union, will seek:

-  to take an active part in developing and implementing the policy of the European Union, strengthening the economic and social coherence and world influence of the European Union;

- to become one of the centres of the region, exercising a tangible influence on the neighbourliness policy of the European Union and supporting the "open-door" policy of the European Union, based on the Copenhagen criteria, towards countries which voice their intent to join the European Union;

- to ensure viable co-ordination of the European Union affairs in
Lithuania, guaranteeing efficient realisation of national interests;

-  to seek bringing about constitutional reforms of the European Union and addressing the issues of legal regulation and finances on the basis of equality of rights, solidarity and viability;

- to actively contribute to formulating common foreign, security and defence policy of the European Union and to implementing European security strategy;

-  to become, in the shortest time possible, a constituent part of the single European Union infrastructure, attracting support of the European Union for carrying out infrastructure projects and take further active steps to complete the construction of the electricity transmission line Lithuania-Poland and the implementation of the priority transport projects "Via Baltica" and "Rail Baltica";

- to be among the first new Member States to join the Schengen Agreement and the euro-zone;

- agreements with the EU Member States for the lifting of restrictions on free movement of workers in the EU Member States applying the restrictions;

declares that being a full member of NATO the Republic of Lithuania:

- will seek, that the Alliance would continue to be a viable and strong organisation of collective defence and security based first of all upon the guarantees of the Fifth Article of the North Atlantic Treaty and a steady and effective co-operation  of the member states in safeguarding the security of the North Atlantic Treaty region;

- will support the “open-door” policy  and seek to promote the dialogue and practical co-operation with the partner countries, including the continuation of the Vilnius process;

- will seek to ensure the implementation of an agreement among the political parties to earmark 2 per cent of the GDP for defence spending during 2005-2008;

declares that the Republic of Lithuania, while developing European Union and NATO relations, their open dialogue which is one of the major factors determining the future of the European security:

- will contribute to the strengthening of the transatlantic link, on which the European security  and NATO effectiveness are based and will continue to be based;

- will seek that the military capability of the European Union would be strengthened in close co-operation with NATO, without duplicating the functions of this organisation;

invites all political parties, while maintaining an active dialogue with the public, to draft in the near future an agreement of the political parties of Lithuania on the principal underlying directions of foreign policy for 2004-2008, and the Government - to complete drafting a new concept of foreign policy.

 

 

ACTING CHAIRMAN

OF THE SEIMAS

OF THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA                               ČESLOVAS JURŠĖNAS