NATO mania explodes in Vilnius

VILNIUS - The most popular word to be heard in Vilnius this week is "NATO." The NATO Parliamentary Assembly, being held in Vilnius between May 27 and 31, is probably the largest international event Lithuania has seen in the last decade.

More than 200 parliamentarians from NATO states and more than 70 from 16 NATO associated states are attending. Politicians have arrived from around the world. Vilnius is full of foreign journalists and political analysts.

The Parliamentary Assembly is expected to call on the alliance on May 31 to admit all candidates qualifying for NATO membership. According to a draft declaration, the assembly is to reaffirm a resolution adopted last November in Berlin, which asks the North Atlantic Council "to issue no later than during its summit meeting in 2002 invitations to NATO accession negotiations to any European democracy that seeks membership in the alliance and has met the criteria for NATO membership as established in the 'Alliance's 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement.'"

The next NATO summit scheduled for November 2002 will take place in the Czech capital Prague.

Most of the delegates are paying special attention to the U.S. delegation at the assembly, because everybody understands that the main decision for enlargement will be made by the Washington administration.

"The key is in Washington," said Lithuanian Parliamentary Chairman Arturas Paulauskas.

John Shimkus, a U.S. congressman of Lithuanian origin, is among the assembly's participants. He says that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia each have a chance in 2002.

"The Baltic states should be invited in the next round of enlargement. I feel, and many members of the congress feel, that the invitation is critical," Shimkus told The Baltic Times.

He said that Russian protests against the enlargement should not influence NATO's decision. "We have great respect for the Russian people and government. However, as we understand their concerns, they need to understand the concerns of the Baltic nations. We have great respect for the independent decisions the Russian government is going to make that will have the concerns of their people in mind, and likewise they should have respect for the independent decisions of the elected governments of the people of the Baltic nations, and if that's the baseline then we should be OK," Shimkus said.

He also said he was very impressed with the beauty of Vilnius. Such impressions are also important to visiting politicians and may influence their decisions, he said.

"This is the first visit to Vilnius for many of the participants," said Simon Lunn, secretary general of the assembly. "I visited Vilnius for the first time in 1991. There was huge tension in the air then. Now Vilnius could be a city in any Western European country. It shows enormous progress."

Shimkus agrees. "The Lithuanian people should be very proud of their government for hosting the event. The Old Town, the commerce, the trade and even the protests are beneficial, because they reinforce the pillars of what NATO members are looking for."

The streets near the town hall and the Contemporary Art Center have been attracting demonstrators of all kinds. On May 27, some 30 punks and anarchists demonstrated with slogans such as "Stop NATO" and "No to militarism."

"Lithuania should be a neutral country," exclaimed one teenage protester. "NATO is an instrument of the devil. The devil will lose," said another.

"The protesters think they're hurting our progress, but I think they're helping because nobody is wielding any clubs," Shimkus said.

Lithuania is generally seen as the NATO front-runner among the Baltic states, and this has led to tensions between the three countries. While Lithuania has hinted that the admission of one Baltic state would be better than none, Latvia and Estonia have made it clear that NATO must take in all three or none at all.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius told the assembly, in answer to a question from the Latvian delegation, that an invitation for at least one Baltic state to join NATO in the next round of enlargement would be a positive thing.

The head of the Latvian delegation, Aleksandrs Kirsteins, asked Linkevicius if the accession of one Baltic state to NATO would not disrupt the balance of security in the Baltic region.

"My personal and Lithuania's official position is that the best decision is to include all three Baltic states. But any step forward in the direction of the Baltic dimension should be considered positive. If forced to chose, one or none, then one is better. If Latvia is the one country chosen, then we will send flowers to the Latvian president," Linkevicius said.

On May 28, some 600 demonstrators of pro-NATO youth organizations, boy scouts and other supporters demonstrated demanding that Lithuania be accepted into NATO.

"I am proud to be an American with Lithuanian roots," U.S. Senator Richard Durbin, another Lithuanian-American in the U.S. delegation, shouted to the cheerful crowd. "I want to give my word that I will do everything possible so that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia become NATO members. World War II ended in Lithuania only a decade ago. We must do everything so that democracy and peace are consolidated through NATO membership."

NATO Parliamentary Assembly President Rafael Estrella said that the question the NATO Parliament Assembly was tackling was not whether the Baltic states were worthy to be invited to join NATO, but when to include them - in a year and a half, in two years or in three.

"The open-door policy means no one can stand in the way of countries becoming NATO and European Union members," Estrella said, with Spanish passion.

One extraordinary event happened on the eve of the assembly on May 23. Signaling Lithuania's political will, almost all Lithuanian political parties represented in the Parliament signed a historic agreement reaffirming the country's aspiration to NATO membership and active participation in the European Union's common foreign and security policy. The agreement, "On Lithuania's Defense Policy in 2001-2004," was signed by representatives of both the ruling and opposition parties.

"Only by belonging to NATO's collective defense system can Lithuania ensure its long term security," reads the document.

The parties signing the document confirmed they would continue participating in NATO-led and EU peacekeeping operations. Crisis and conflict prevention will remain priority tasks.

An obligation was also undertaken to ensure stable allocations from the gross domestic product for defense purposes. "Lithuania's defense expenditure will reach 2 percent of GDP in 2002, and the percentage will not be lowered in the 2003-2004 period," says the agreement.

Only the Freedom Union of scandal-driven Vytautas Sustauskas, which has one MP, and the Peasants Party of young populist millionaire Ramunas Karbauskis, with four MPs, did not sign the document. There are 141 MPs in the Parliament.