09 July 1998
(July 8 speech in Riga, Latvia) (1620) Riga -- Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott addressed the U.S.-Baltic Partnership Commission July 8, telling participating government and business leaders from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that "It is in the national interest of the United States that you regain your rightful place in the European mainstream. The upheavals of the 20th century have taught us that when any part of Europe is isolated, repressed, unstable or torn by violence, the peace of the entire Euro-Atlantic Community is at risk." Referring to the U.S.-Baltic Partnership Charter signed January 16, 1998, Talbott said, "Over the past six months, the commitments we have made to each other under the Baltic Charter have contributed to the prospects for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as individual, distinct European states and to the prospects for Europe as a whole." He discussed some areas in which the United States and the Baltics are cooperating, such as the Baltic-American Partnership Fund, the establishment of a graduate school of law in Riga, U.S. support of legislation that meets the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's recommendations on citizenship, bilateral working groups set up under the Baltic Charter, a memorandum of understanding on agricultural cooperation, and a U.S. Defense Department study of Baltic defense plans and programs. Talbott added, "We are now working with your defense ministries to design long-term strategies to strengthen your self-defense capabilities and your ability to contribute to European security and stability." He also encouraged further regional cooperation with Russia: "If Russia can come to see the Baltic States not as a pathway inward for invading armies, or as a buffer against imaginary enemies, but as a gateway outward, to the new Europe of which it seeks to be an increasingly active part, then everyone will benefit -- your countries, mine, Russia itself, and the Euro-Atlantic community as a whole. We will all be safer and more secure." Following is the text of the speech as delivered (begin text) THE U.S. AND THE BALTIC REGION Remarks by Strobe Talbott Deputy Secretary of State 8 July 1998 U.S.-Baltic Partnership Commission Riga, Latvia As delivered President Ulmanis, Foreign Minister Saudargas, Foreign Minister Ilves, Foreign Minister Birkavs, ladies and gentlemen: it is a personal pleasure for me to be here today. It was 12 years ago that I first visited Riga. The year was 1986, and I was part of an American delegation attending a path-breaking, window-opening, indeed door-opening conference held in Jurmala. My fellow visitors and I could sense the vitality, the strength and the promise of the Baltic peoples. We also felt their longing for freedom. I cannot, however, claim that any of us foresaw where those qualities would lead in a few short years: to independence, to democracy, to integration into a new Europe, and to a multidimensional partnership with the United States. The principal custodian of that partnership on the American side is President Bill Clinton. He has asked me to convey to you all an expression of his greetings -- and a reiteration of his commitment. As he told your own presidents on January 16th in Washington, your American friends are committed to help you as you progress toward -- and in due course through -- the open doors of the Euro-Atlantic community's evolving and expanding institutions, very much including the new NATO. It is in the national interest of the United States that you regain your rightful place in the European mainstream. The upheavals of the 20th century have taught us that when any part of Europe is isolated, repressed, unstable or torn by violence, the peace of the entire Euro-Atlantic Community is at risk. We learned that lesson the hard way in the 20th century; we must apply it in the right way in the 21st. We are already doing so. Over the past six months, the commitments we have made to each other under the Baltic Charter have contributed to the prospects for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as individual, distinct European states and to the prospects for Europe as a whole. In the realm of politics, we have worked together to consolidate your transition to democracy. The United States is supporting the development of local non-governmental organizations through the new Baltic-American Partnership Fund, an initiative that my friend and colleague, the Deputy Administrator of our Agency for International Development, Harriet Babbitt, will be visiting each of your countries to discuss next week. We are also participating in the establishment of a graduate school of law here in Riga that will educate students from around the region. In addition, we are helping you help yourselves in the field of social integration, particularly in support of legislation that meets the OSCE's recommendations on citizenship. Like the United States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are multi-ethnic societies. That fact presents both great opportunities and daunting challenges. The United States has learned from its own hard experience that if some members of the community are excluded from the benefits, opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship, then the society and the nation as a whole suffer. In the Baltic Charter, all four of our nations have vowed to work toward inclusiveness and reconciliation as watchwords for the future. Each of your governments has taken important steps to translate those ideas into reality. As just one example, in May your presidents jointly launched national commissions to study the periods of the Holocaust and of totalitarian rule in each of your countries. We salute you for that. Let me now turn to economics, another area in which we've made significant progress together. The bilateral working groups envisioned under the Baltic Charter have begun to identify key areas in which we can promote trade and investment. The American co-chair of that bilateral economic effort is my friend and colleague Under Secretary of State Stuart Eizenstat, who is heading this way later this week. He will be working with your colleagues on many of these same issues at the Council of Baltic Sea States Ministerial on Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Vilnius on Friday, July 10. Agriculture is a priority as well. The United States was pleased to join the Baltic States this morning in signing a memorandum of understanding that will expand our cooperation in that critical area. In all of our economic efforts, we are putting a premium on partnership with the private sector. It is therefore fitting that more than 30 senior representatives of Baltic and American businesses are participating in this inaugural meeting of the Partnership Council. I look forward to discussing with them later today ways that we can work together to accelerate what has been called a Baltic Revolution -- a tide of economic reform and integration that has made this region one of Europe's most promising. Finally, a word about security. As in the areas of democratization and economic reform, when you gained your independence seven years ago you faced tremendous challenges in meeting your security needs. To help you surmount those challenges, our Department of Defense last year undertook a study of defense plans and programs headed by one of our most capable senior officers, Major General Buzz Kievenaar. I'm very pleased that Admiral Malone and Col. Stolberg could represent the General here today. We are now working with your defense ministries to design long-term strategies to strengthen your self-defense capabilities and your ability to contribute to European security and stability. As part of that larger effort, we have developed a common position on the positive role that confidence-building measures can play in enhancing regional security, and we have initiated consultations on a range of arms control issues as well. Those are just a few examples of the growing number of initiatives on which we are working together -- not just in this region but across the continent. Let me close with a brief word about one of the countries of the Baltic region that we hope will increasingly participate in various cooperative regional endeavors in all of the areas I've touched upon in my remarks -- politics, economics, and security -- and in others that also deserve mention, such as preserving the natural environment. That country is Russia, a nation with whom you share a complex and often painful history. If Russia can come to see the Baltic States not as a pathway inward for invading armies, or as a buffer against imaginary enemies, but as a gateway outward, to the new Europe of which it seeks to be an increasingly active part, then everyone will benefit -- your countries, mine, Russia itself, and the Euro-Atlantic community as a whole. We will all be safer and more secure. Achieving that goal -- like all the objectives I have touched on here today -- will be far from quick or easy. But that said, the extraordinary record of your young democracies gives us, your American friends, reason for confidence and optimism. This past Saturday, on July 4th, we in the United States celebrated the 222nd anniversary of our own independence. Your countries regained their independence only seven years ago. That means we have a considerable head start on you. That is grounds not for self-congratulation -- rather, it is grounds for congratulating you. We are filled with admiration at how much you have accomplished in so short a time, and we are proud to be at your side in a great task of making sure that our common future vindicates the sacrifices -- and avoids the mistakes -- of the past. Thank you very much. (E