VILNIUS 's President Valdas Adamkus expressed regret at Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga's recent comments 's spoken while she explained her decision to go to Moscow for the May 9 Victory Day ceremony 's that a joint position of the three Baltic states on the international arena is not imperative after the three have joined European Union and NATO.
"I am sorry that such statements are made, and it wasn't the first time. I reject the idea that the Baltic states should individually and independently settle certain international issues. This proposition is completely unacceptable for me," Adamkus said in an interview on national radio Wednesday evening.
He noted that "if the Latvian leader and the Latvian government make decisions leaving their national state positions, we have to accept them, but I cannot publicly approve of such an idea."
Neither Adamkus nor Estonian President Arnold Ruutel has made a decision on whether to accept Vladimir Putin's invitation to take part in the events commemorating the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
All three president had discussed the invitation together in Vilnius in December.
In an interview to Latvian radio last week, Vike-Freiberga stated that the necessity for unity of the three Baltic states should not be overestimated as the three independent countries are members of NATO and the EU.
Adamkus said on Thursday that if he were an ordinary citizen of Lithuania, he would surely not go to Moscow, but as president his decision must reflect the interests of the state. "If the decision were mine as that of an individual, a citizen Valdas Adamkus, if it were his own decision, yes, I would not go there," he was quoted by journalists as saying.
"Being the leader of the state, however, I feel responsibility for the state and for the Lithuanian people, and I will make a decision that will do good for our common cause," he said.
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who visited Vilnius this week, said the government should decide on coming or not coming to Moscow on their own account. "Whatever Lithuania's decision is, we will respect it," he said.
