VILNIUS - Last week more than 80 ministers, MPs and international political experts discussed ways to intensify cooperation between the Baltics and Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia during a three-day conference.
The conference 's "The Baltic Region and the South Caucasus: Strategies for Cooperation and Patterns of Reform" 's was organized by the renowned German-American George C. Marshall Center and strove to promote dialogue and understanding among not only the former Soviet republics but nations of North America, Europe and Central Asia.
"We wanted to offer a platform of open discussion for experts from all six countries," explained General Dr. Horst Schmalfeld, deputy director of the center.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Lithuania's Valdas Adamkus presented a joint address to conference participants. "The experiences and success of the Baltic states can serve as a good example for the South Caucasus countries, striving to follow a similar path toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration," the heads of state said.
Both presidents underlined their hope that the meeting, held at Vilnius University's Institute of International Relations and Political Science, would lead to recommendations on how "to advance our shared goal of the South Caucasus as an indispensable part of the Europe, whole and free."
In order to develop such ideas, several working groups discussed topics such as NATO in the South Caucasus, European neighborhood policy and how the Baltic nations could facilitate a transition process for the Caucasus.
Of particular controversy was Nagorno-Karabagh, the Armenia-controlled enclave of Azerbaijan, which was discussed in the context of "obstacles that have to be removed to resolve conflicts in the South Caucasus."
In his keynote speech, Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis said that the Baltics were willing to share their experiences on the process of establishing a functioning democracy and market economy with the former Soviet republics. He stressed the strategic importance of the South Caucasus in the context of "addressing global threats, promoting stability and democracy in the greater Middle East and Central Asia and of securing safe energy transit from the Caspian oil and gas sources."
Although all six countries became independent after the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, the two regions and their starting positions are enormously different. Georgia must deal with breakaway regions such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as Russian troops still stationed on its soil.
The unresolved dispute in Nagorno-Karabagh has prevented cooperation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which now controls 16 percent of Azeri territory, for 10 years, and led to Azerbaijan and Turkey's sealing of their borders with Armenia.
Several speakers, among them the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, pointed out that these problems must be solved as soon as possible to prevent new outbreaks of violence. And this process, he stressed, begins with closer cooperation.
According to Gerhard Blaesing, director of the Marshall Center's conference center, it is very likely that a follow-up conference will take place in a couple of months to check developments and make sure that dialogue continues.
In recent months there have been several meetings between Baltic and South Caucasus leaders, dubbed "3+3." Estonian President Arnold Ruutel visited Armenia last November, while Saakashvili toured the Baltic states in the fall.
