Military

Concluding Remarks by
H.E. Vygaudas Ušackas, Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the United States of America. 

The House of Representatives International Relations Subcommittee on Europe. 
NATO enlargement hearing, May 1, 2002

Mr. Chairman, Excellences, Ladies and Gentleman: 

In my prepared remarks I deal specifically with my country and the value I believe it adds to the Alliance. I will not repeat that here but simply ask that a copy of my prepared remarks be included in the record.

What you have just seen and heard from my fellow Ambassadors about our countries, level of preparation, state of readiness, value added to the Alliance and the importance of enlargement tells pieces of the story.   I will now try to summarize and put these thoughts into perspective.

Let me try to use my personal experiences and the history I learned in school as a metaphor for what is at stake.

My country has been occupied three times in the 20^th century.   It was under the yoke of communism for more than 40 years—a political system that pushed hundreds of thousands of my countrymen and those of my Baltic neighbors into forced exile.

For you in America, Siberia and the Gulag were the embodiment of a cold, frozen barren place—the ends of civilization. For us, it was a very real place, a place where our families were sent into exile, a place where dreams were meant to die.

Our dream, like those of your forefathers, was to live in freedom and independence, where democracy was a way of life, where morals and values were embedded in the lifeblood of our citizens. America represented to us, everything we longed for, everything we hoped for.   Your country was always our inspiration and for 50 years we held on to your non-recognition of our occupation.

As a student in the late eighties, I became politically active because I understood that no matter what dangers might be involved it was imperative that my world needed to change. And this fundamental change was worth fighting for.   Like Ambassador Butora in the then Czechoslovakia or the many others involved in the cause for freedom, we didn’t stop to think of the consequences, we only knew this was the most important fight we would ever wage.

            In this fight, NATO represented to us the ultimate guarantee of freedom.   Thus in 1994 my government committed itself to strive for membership, like did many other countries represented here. Many in the West laughed or scoffed at our hopes as highly unlikely, unreal, a pipedream.   But we persisted and continued the hard work, continued to make the hard decisions.

After Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were admitted we began to believe that we could succeed, that the old barriers were being broken down and that we could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Alliance as contributing partners.   The 1999 Washington NATO summit reinforced this belief.   And I am proud that a new level of cooperation was born in my country in May, 2000 with the Vilnius group.

            We have all continued the hard work towards reforms, militarily and economically, we have all made great efforts to act as allies and show how we add value, both militarily and politically.   Our commitment to reforms reaches fare beyond the Prague Summit because our long-term objective is to make our countries the best democracies and best allies possible.

            September 11 made us all reassess the criticality of Alliances. It made us realize how much more important were friends we could trust and rely on. We have shown by our deeds we are ready, willing and committed to work with the U.S. and other allies in the war on terrorism. We can be counted on. Our inclusion in the security structures of NATO will not make the Alliance unwieldy or unmanageable; quite the contrary, it will add a group of nations, prepared to act, who have devoted the resources and made the commitment to deal with a changing world; a group of nations who truly understand the moral imperative of freedom and democracy, and the values and responsibilities that come with them.

            What happens in Prague in November has significant long term historical consequences.   It is about tearing down the last vestiges of an enforced oppression, it is about realigning Europe closer to its rightful borders, it is about righting historical wrongs; it is about creating the architecture of the Europe of the 21^st century and adapting the most successful security Alliance ever to the new challenges of the 21^st century.   It is probably the most important decisions affecting our countries that will happen during our careers. It truly is a rendezvous with history.