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Mr. Secretary General, dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all in Vilnius. The principles of collectiveness, indivisible security and solidarity are the foundation of our Alliance. It is symbolical that we have an opportunity to discuss NATO issues here in Vilnius – a city, which during its long history has been a place of dialogue among different cultures, religions and nations.

In 2009, Vilnius will become a European Capital of Culture, but at least for today and tomorrow, Vilnius is the capital of NATO.

I believe our discussions will be an important building block on our way to Bucharest. During the next day and a half we should do our best to move forward on several outstanding matters:
 
First, it is important to reconfirm NATO’s commitment to projecting stability and security beyond the Euroatlantic area. We have to work on further advancing security and development in Afghanistan. In this effort, it is important to act not on behalf but together with the international community. Strengthening Alliance’s relationship with the United Nations and the European Union remains crucial precondition for success.

Also, we should give considerable attention to NATO transformation. The Alliance has to be ready to meet security challenges of the 21st century. For this reason, we have to continue developing our most advanced military tool – the NATO Response Force. We will also need to engage into some creative and innovative thinking on cyber defence, energy security, strategic airlift and other issues. 

This meeting also provides us an opportunity to review our relations with partners. We need to continue reinforcing the relationship between the Alliance and Ukraine. Also, we have to use this occasion to maintain political dialogue with Russia.

Finally, using this opportunity, on behalf of Baltic Defence ministers I would like to thank allies for the contribution to the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states. The current mission ensures that single NATO security standard is maintained in our airspace. For us this mission is of strategic importance. We believe it is a good example of solidarity and effective resource spending. It enables us – the Baltic states – to allocate our resources for the development of capabilities that our Alliance mostly needs in operations.

I hope our work today and tomorrow will be fruitful and productive, and you will be able to enjoy your stay in Vilnius.

Thank you