Visits

Working visit by President Dalia Grybauskaitė to the United Nations, New York, 22-24 September 2011

President Dalia Grybauskaitė left for New York to attend the General Debate of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly which this year had the theme "The Role of Mediation in the Settlement of Disputes by Peaceful Means".

At a luncheon hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, President Dalia Grybauskaitė, visiting New York to attend the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, discussed Lithuanian and global issues with the Presidents of Austria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Latvia, Estonia, and also talked with US President Barack Obama and State Secretary Hillary Clinton.

The striving for peace in the Middle East and the perspectives for Palestinian statehood became the main topics of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly.

According to the President, the European Union and the United States have to use joint efforts to evoke direct negotiations between Palestine and Israel. The US President also underlined that making peace was a difficult task requiring the endeavors of all parties.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė and President Heinz Fischer of Austria talked about the circumstances of the detention and release of Mikhail Golovatov, a suspect in the January 13th case, and the necessity to waive the exceptions of application of the European Arrest Warrant. The Presidents agreed that it was imperative to find a common solution to avoid similar situations in the future.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė and President Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine talked about the forthcoming meeting of the leaders of the European Union and Eastern Partnership in Warsaw where the prospects of closer contacts between the EU and Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus would be addressed.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė and President Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan touched on the presidential elections to be held at the end of October in Kyrgyzstan under the OSCE supervision. Democratic elections are a key priority for Lithuania who chairs the OSCE.

The formation of a governing coalition in Latvia was the topic discussed with President Andris Bėrzins.

The continuity of chairmanship of the Community of Democracies, taken over from Lithuania by Mongolia in July, was in the focus of discussions with President Tsakhia Elbegdorj of Mongolia.

The President and Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, discussed the economic situation in Europe which will also be on the agenda of the European Council meeting in mid October.

In the UN Headquarters, the President also met with President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia.

During the bilateral meeting - the 6th such meeting - the Presidents discussed the ongoing reforms in Georgia, its preparedness for EU and NATO integration, and the relevant issues to be discussed at the Eastern Partnership summit in Warsaw next week and at the NATO summit in Chicago in 2012.

Speaking about the forthcoming Eastern Partnership summit, President Dalia Grybauskaitė urged Georgia to act and speak in one voice with other Eastern partners - Moldova and Ukraine. According to the President, a single voice of the partners would be better heard and their united interests - better understood.

The President emphasized Lithuania's support for Georgia's aspirations to sign a free trade agreement and start negotiations on visa-free regime with the EU. She also underlined that attaining these goals directly depended on Georgia's determination to continue national reforms and assume European norms.

"Reforms on the path of forming transparent and efficient state institutions, enhancing the rule of law, ensuring the freedom of mass media and introducing European standards in economic cooperation constituted the only possible way of achieving Euro integration," the President said.

During the meeting, the Presidents also talked about the protracted conflict in Georgia. According to President Dalia Grybauskaitė, the current General Debate of the UN General Assembly - "The Role of Mediation in the Settlement of Disputes by Peaceful Means" - is highly relevant and significant to both Georgia and Lithuania, who chairs the OSCE this year. During her visit to the Southern Caucasus this past May, the President placed special focus on the resolution of protracted conflicts.

During the visit, President Dalia Grybauskaitė attended the high-level meeting on nuclear safety and security held at the initiative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York.

Speaking at the meeting, the President put forth Lithuania's proposals for enhancing international nuclear safety standards. She underlined that new nuclear projects could not be even considered without a comprehensive seismic and environmental safety assessment, and stress tests must become the routine procedure for every - planned or existing - nuclear power plant. The sites and technologies, as well as expertise of personnel, should be subjected to maximum control and the supervision of compliance with the requirements should be the responsibility of respective international organizations.

"As nuclear accidents respect no borders, the development of any nuclear energy project in any state must be implemented with due responsibility for the population of their own and other states. Open and honest consultations with all potentially affected countries, constructive settling of transnational disputes, full transparency and information sharing must be the universal norm. And if legal international imperatives are needed to ensure that, they should be adopted," the President said.

Recalling nuclear accidents, the President called the attention of world leaders to new threats. The President underlined that in our direct neighborhood and in the centre of Europe two new nuclear power projects were being developed today without proper environmental assessment and with no proper sharing of information. According to the President, it seems worrying and threatening - not only to Lithuania but to the entire region.

"If we agree that only safe technologies in safe sites under safe construction with safe operation and safe decommissioning can guarantee real nuclear safety and security, I invite the international community, with a strong lead from the International Atomic Energy Agency, to assure universal adherence to these principles. It is the only way to avoid new nuclear disasters. Let's treat the Fukushima and St. Petersburg accidents as the last wake-up call for the responsible behavior of all the actors in nuclear energy since a nuclear accident anywhere is an accident everywhere," emphasized the President.

The President said that we must immediately take concrete actions to improve the existing system of nuclear safety and security regulations.

Before the high-level meeting on nuclear safety and security, President Dalia Grybauskaitė also talked with José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, who also emphasized that more effective international agreements - binding instead of recommendable nuclear safety conventions - were needed for ensuring nuclear security.

According to the President, it is highly important for Lithuania, in whose neighborhood energy projects are developed, to know that the European Commission is determined to maintain active cooperation with neighboring countries on nuclear safety issues, and promises have already been received from EU neighbors, including Russia and Belarus, to conduct safety and stress tests, analogous to those performed in the EU, for planned nuclear power plants.

Later, President Dalia Grybauskaitė delivered a speech at the 66th Session of the UN General Assembly held under the theme of "The Role of Mediation in the Settlement of Disputes by Peaceful Means".

Speaking about Lithuania's experience in mediation, the President underlined that over twenty years of independence Lithuania has become an active member of the international community, increasingly entrusted with responsible duties and the resolution of complex global issues. Lithuania has chaired the Community of Democracies, the OSCE, and it will hold the EU presidency in 2013.

Next year, in June, Lithuania will also assume chairmanship of the UN General Assembly and in 2013 it will seek non-permanent membership in the Security Council - UN's main institution responsible for international security issues. The Security Council which adopts key international security decisions is comprised of fifteen UN members - 5 countries hold permanent seats and 10 countries are elected every two years.

"In recent years Lithuania invested a lot in building its capacity to become a broker in dealing with various international security issues. We are determined to take global responsibility and to run for the Security Council's non-permanent seat for the 2014-2015 period," the President said to the world leaders.

According to the President, in order to ensure international security it is important not only to be able to overcome traditional crises, but also to address new threats and challenges - cybercrime, information, nuclear or environmental.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė called the attention of world leaders to nuclear safety and security issues and welcomed the ambitious nuclear safety action plan approved at the ongoing IAEA General Conference in Vienna.

"Chernobyl and Fukushima obligate us to create strict legal international imperatives and to ensure compliance with them. We cannot allow any compromises on safety and security," the President emphasized.

President Dalia Grybauskaitė put forward Lithuania's proposals on ensuring nuclear safety: each and every nuclear power plant, its site, nuclear technology and expertise of personnel should be subjected to tighter quality requirements. Stress tests should become routine practice and information about nuclear projects must be absolutely transparent and open to public access.

Press Service of the President