[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 4 (Monday, January 26, 1998)]
[Pages 85-87]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Signing Ceremony for the Baltic Nations-United States 
Charter of Partnership

January 16, 1998

    The President. President Meri; President Brazauskas; President 
Ulmanis; members of the Estonian, Lithuanian, and Latvian delegations; 
Secretary Albright; Mr. Berger; Members of Congress; Senator Dole; Mr. 
Brzezinski; and all friends of the Baltic nations who are here.
    The Vice President and I and our administration were honored to 
welcome President Meri, President Brazauskas, and President Ulmanis to 
Washington to reaffirm our common vision of a Europe whole and free, 
where Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia play their full and rightful roles, 
and to sign a charter of partnership to build that Europe together.
    To the three Presidents, let me say thank you. Thank you for the key 
role you have played in making this moment possible; holding to the 
difficult path of political and economic reform; leading Estonia, 
Latvia, and Lithuania back to the community of free nations where they 
belong. This charter of partnership underscores how far your nations 
have come. Almost exactly 7 years ago today, Baltic citizens were facing 
down tanks in the struggle to reclaim their independence. Today, your 
democracies have taken root. You stand among Europe's fastest growing 
economies. Your nations are a source of stability within your region and 
beyond, through the Partnership For Peace, the Baltic Peacekeeping 
Battalion, and your contributions in Bosnia.
    America has been proud to support this progress through our SEED 
assistance program, more than 500 Peace Corps volunteers, and in many 
other ways. We share a stake in your success. And with this charter, we 
set out a framework to achieve our common goals. It affirms our 
commitment to promoting harmony and human dignity within our societies; 
it stresses our interest in close cooperation among the Baltic States 
and with all their neighbors; it launches new working groups on economic 
development to spur greater trade, investment, and growth, complementing 
the efforts of our European friends; and it furthers America's 
commitment to help Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia to deepen their 
integration and prepare for membership in the European Union and NATO.
    Of course, there can be no guarantees of admission to the alliance. 
Only NATO's leaders, operating by consensus, can offer membership to an 
aspiring state. But America's security is tied to Europe, and Europe 
will never be fully secure if Baltic security is in doubt. NATO's door 
is and will remain open to every partner nation, and America is 
determined to create the conditions under which Estonia, Lithuania, and 
Latvia can one day walk through that door.
    The hopes that fuel the goals of this charter must be matched by our 
will to achieve them. That's why we're forming a new partnership 
commission which Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott will chair. 
I'm pleased to report that the charter is making a difference already. 
Yesterday our nations signed treaties to eliminate double taxation, 
which will encourage American business to play an even greater role in 
Baltic prosperity. We're also expanding our common efforts to combat 
organized crime with better information-sharing and more joint 
operations.
    And this year the United States, in a unique public-private 
partnership with the Soros Open Society Institute, will be creating a 
Baltic-American partnership fund to promote the development of civic 
organizations. Nothing is more crucial to democracy's success than a 
vibrant network of local groups committed to their communities and their 
nation. I want to thank George Soros for his visionary generosity.

[[Page 86]]

    I also want to say a special thanks to the Baltic-American 
communities. For 50 years, Lithuanian-, Latvian-, and Estonian-Americans 
kept alive the dream of Baltic freedom. Now, on the verge of a new 
century, they are working here at home and with their Baltic brothers 
and sisters to make sure the hard-won blessings of liberty will never be 
lost again.
    President Meri, President Brazauskas, President Ulmanis, we recall 
the August day in 1989 when hundreds of thousands of people linked hands 
from Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius, forming a human chain as strong as the 
values for which it stood. Today, that Baltic chain extends across the 
Atlantic Ocean. America's hands and hearts and hopes are joined as one 
with yours. Working together, we can build a new Europe of democracy, 
prosperity, and peace, where security is the province of every nation 
and the future belongs to the free.
    Thank you very much.
    President Guntis Ulmanis of Latvia. Dear President, ladies and 
gentlemen, today is a happy day as we are signing the U.S.A.-Baltic 
charter. This charter will serve as a key for the next century. It makes 
us allies. Our signatures write the strategic philosophy for the next 
century. They mark strong Atlanticism and also the formation of a new 
Europe. The Baltic region is a success story for all who shape it by 
their everyday work.
    I call on President Clinton and his administration to get actively 
involved in the formation of its future. The symbolic meaning of the 
charter has been expressed in its first words, which speak about our 
common vision of the future. It has been created by people of our 
countries in continuous work by mutual enrichment. I am proud of my 
people and its strengths. I am proud of my friends who I am happy to 
welcome here.
    Thank you.
    President Algirdas Brazauskas of Lithuania. Dear Presidents, ladies 
and gentlemen, today we are signing the particularly important document 
with the United States of America, with which we not only share common 
values but are also linked by a number of American Lithuanians who have 
found home in the United States. The charter of partnership establishes 
the institutional framework that promotes the furtherance of bilateral 
and multilateral cooperation, reciprocal support to the Euro-Atlantic 
integration, and common efforts designed for the consolidation of 
security, prosperity, and stability within the region and Euro-Atlantic 
area as the whole.
    The U.S.-Baltic charter confirms repeatedly that Lithuania is a 
serious candidate for accession to NATO, as well as that the United 
States support the Baltic States' aspirations and their efforts to 
become members of the alliance.
    Lithuania values the charter first and foremost as the commitment to 
its further role as the promoter of stability within our region and 
Europe as a whole, its commitment to progress, economic reforms, and 
further enhancement of defense system effectiveness and interoperability 
with the North Atlantic alliance. We appreciate and are supportive of 
President Clinton's and the U.S. role of leadership in opening up to 
Central European democracies the doors to history's most successful 
alliance. It is our hope that this openness to new members will enhance 
the security and stability for all the present and aspiring members, as 
well as other European nations.
    Thank you.
    President Lennart Meri of Estonia. Mr. President, Excellencies, 
ladies and gentlemen, today is an historic day in the history of our 
four nations. With the signing of the charter of partnership among the 
United States of America and the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of 
Latvia, and the Republic of Lithuania, we enter a new phase of even 
closer United States-Baltic relations.
    Seventy-five years ago last summer, the United States and Estonia--
[inaudible]--diplomatic relations, thus launching a special relationship 
based in mutual respect and trust. There is an old saying that one 
recognizes a true friend in times of need. With its bipartisan support 
for nonrecognition policy, America was a true friend of the Baltics in a 
time of need, acting as a beacon of hope throughout the long, dark, and 
cold years of the Soviet occupation.
    You, Mr. President, were a true friend when, 4 years ago, you 
personally contributed to making sure that occupation would

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end and the foreign troops were withdrawn. This principled behavior is 
one quality of United States foreign policy that we greatly admire. The 
fact that morals play a major role in Americans' foreign policy is what 
defines the United States as the world's remaining superpower.
    Estonia sees the United States-Baltic charter as the latest 
expression of that principled approach. The charter recognizes the 
Baltic States' role in the American strategy to guarantee security and 
stability on the European Continent, and spells out that the United 
States has a real, profound, and enduring interest in the security and 
sovereignty of the Baltic States.
    An important element in our security strategy is eventual full 
membership in NATO. We believe that NATO continues to be the sole 
guarantor of security and stability in Europe. Estonia applauds 
President Clinton for his leadership in starting the process of NATO 
enlargement which has already redefined the terms of security policy in 
Europe.
    Estonia also understands that NATO enlargement through the Baltics 
will be the next big project of the alliance. We believe that the 
question of Baltic membership in NATO will become the real test of post-
Madrid security thinking--that is, that countries shall be able to 
choose their security arrangements regardless of geography. We are 
confident that, with American leadership, this test will be met with 
success.
    Thank you.
    The President. I thank you all. We are now going to sign our 
charter. Before we do, I just want to say again how much I appreciate 
all of our guests coming here, all from the three nations, their 
American counterparts. And thank you, Senator Durbin, Congresswoman 
Pelosi, Congressman Shimkus, Congressman Kucinich. Thank you, Senator 
Dole and Mr. Brzezinski.
    And I'd also like to point out--I didn't earlier--we have a very 
large, unusually large, representation from the diplomatic corps here, 
which is a tribute to the importance of this moment that the rest of the 
world community attaches to it. And I thank all the ambassadors who are 
here. Thank you all very much for your presence.

Note: The President spoke at 2:45 p.m. in the East Room at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to former Senator Bob Dole; former 
National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski; and philanthropist George 
Soros, chairman, Soros Fund Management, LCC. He also referred to the 
Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Program. This item was not 
received in time for publication in the appropriate issue.