NATO HQ 19 March 2003

Press point by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson and Mr Rolandas Paksas, President of Lithuania UNIDENTIFIED: Okay. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The Secretary General's just finished his conversations with President Paksas. They'll both say a few words and then we're open to some questions. And the Secretary General will start. Sir? LORD ROBERTSON (NATO Secretary General): I was delighted today to greet President Paksas here as the first president of one of the invited countries to come here to NATO headquarters. Of course, in a short period of time, he will come here as one of the heads of state and government of a NATO country, but even at the moment, he has a privileged position as one of the seven invited countries. And therefore, I was delighted to see him again, even although we only met two weeks ago in Vilnius when I visited Lithuania. But we've had a chance to discuss the ongoing need for reforms and for keeping up the momentum, both on the military and the civil side of the integration process, the current situation which exists in the world, and which is preoccupying us here in NATO, and also -- and this was very valuable -- how Lithuania itself is now helping other countries who aspire to NATO membership too. And I specifically congratulated and thanked President Paksas for what Lithuania is doing to help the Republic of Georgia in its transition phase because I believe that countries with a similar background are in a very good position to give help and to give relevant advice that is very useful in all of these circumstances. President Paksas has been telling me about his visit to Afghanistan. And of course, NATO is actively helping Germany and the Netherlands who are the lead nations in the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul in Afghanistan. And Lithuanian troops are performing magnificently in that assistance force. And his experience there is very valuable and very relevant to us as well. So here is a country that has gone from being a partner to being an aspirant country, to being an invited country. And next Wednesday, the accession protocols will be signed here in this headquarters. No doubt some of the journalists here will be coming with the foreign minister for that ceremony. But Lithuania will move through the transition to eventually becoming a member country of this Alliance and making history as it do so as well. But the President and I knew each other from his other roles, and it's been a great pleasure to greet him here; as I say, the first head of state and government of the invited countries to actually come across this threshold. But he won't be the last. Thank you. UNIDENTIFIED: Sir, could I just ask, do you need a translation, are you happy? Please. I'm sorry to interrupt. ROLANDAS PAKSAS (President, Republic of Lithuania): Mr. Secretary General, dear colleagues. Well, Lord Robertson (inaudible)... very much comparison since he's mentioned that I'm the first head of the invited(?) country to visit NATO headquarters. On my behalf I can also say that NATO's Secretary General Lord Robertson was the first foreign very important person to visit Lithuania immediately after my inauguration. And I want to say that we had a very constructive discussion and discussed a number of issues that Lithuania needs to address in order to ensure her smooth joining to NATO. I want to stress on this occasion that Lithuania's committed to respect her commitment that affects NATO members. And we are preparing to be not only consumers of security in NATO, but also to contribute on equal rights and on equal footing with other member states, to do further enhancement of security, stability and democracy. UNIDENTIFIED: Questions? Please. The gentleman there please. Q: Lithuania television. Mr. Secretary General, there is no need for you to explain what the Vilnius group... Vilnius Ten Group is. So what would be your comment on the Vilnius Ten Group declaration, one month ago actually, on the situation in Iraq? It's one aspect of the question. And the other question. How would see Lithuania's role already as a full member of NATO in case there is a need to take part in some common action? Thank you. LORD ROBERTSON: Well, in terms of statements that are made by groups of NATO nations, that's a matter for them. They're entitled to express their opinion and the countries did at that time. And this is an alliance of free nations believing in free speech, practising free speech. So they're entitled to their opinion, as indeed those who disagree with them are entitled to theirs as well. We don't impose some draconian line. This is not the Warsaw Pact. We expect, in a range of democratic countries, to see a range of democratic views. In terms of the threats to the Alliance, well invited countries are exactly that. They are invited countries, and when they become full members of the Alliance, they then enjoy the protection of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, and they fully contribute towards the collective security that lies behind that guarantee. And in the coming months, they will continue to play their part in integrating their military structure so that they can fully do that. But as you know, we have a partnership for peace, and it has its own obligations and responsibilities as well. But full membership of the Alliance will come and with it will come the full burdens and responsibilities of being in the Alliance. Q: A question for the Secretary General. Are you at all frustrated that at the same time you're doing all these historic things with the EU, with the invited countries, that this is all being overshadowed by the crisis and imminent war in Iraq? LORD ROBERTSON: I'm never frustrated. I've always believed that you should be judged by outcomes and not by input. So we're doing these historic things, they don't get a lot of notice. You guys don't give us the notice that we deserve at this time. But there are always other events going on in the world and you can't sort of push back the time. We will continue to make history. We will continue to build security. We will continue with the work that is ongoing. And we'll also watch carefully what else is going on in the world, good and bad. UNIDENTIFIED: Questions? Okay. Thank you very much.