Twenty years ago,
Lithuania rejoined the international community of
sovereign States and became a Member of the United
Nations. The unique experience of peaceful transition,
State-building and reforms during the past 20 years has
made Lithuania stronger and more determined. History
has taught us that an honest broker at the national,
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bilateral or multilateral level is the key to solving
almost any problem.
In recent years, we have invested in building our
capacity to become such a broker. Lithuania has just
concluded its chairmanship of the Community of
Democracies. Today, we are proud to chair the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. I
am also confident that Lithuania’s commitment to
effective multilateralism and the fostering of dialogue
and cooperation internationally makes it a deserving
candidate for non-permanent membership of the
Security Council. We are ready and determined to run
for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council for
the 2014-15 term.
Meanwhile, looking forward to Lithuania’s
presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh
session next year, I would like to assure members that
we will do our utmost to contribute effectively and
wisely to the work and principles of the United Nations
in all of its bodies.
Just a few months ago, women leaders from all
parts of the world met in Vilnius to share their
experiences in enhancing democracy worldwide. This
event, organized by Lithuania as Chair of the
Community of Democracies, confirmed my belief that
the involvement of women in addressing common
problems and concerns is still very low. Therefore,
Lithuania strongly welcomed resolution 65/283 on
strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful
settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and
resolution, proposed by Finland and Turkey and
adopted by the General Assembly. I am very pleased
that that resolution advocates the enhanced role of
women in peace mediation. The full involvement of
women in conflict resolution, peace talks and decisions
on post-conflict reconstruction is essential.
The same applies to the protection of women in
conflict situations as defined in the historic Security
Council resolution 1325 (2000) and related resolutions.
I would like to announce that Lithuania has drawn up
its first national action plan for implementing
resolution 1325 (2000).
We live in an era of constant change. The
maintenance and improvement of our ability to tackle
traditional crises must be supplemented with an
increased capacity of the United Nation to address such
new threats and challenges as energy security,
cybercrime, food safety and climate change, to mention
only a few. I especially appreciate and would like to
stress the importance of the Secretary-General’s strong
engagement in nuclear safety and his call to build a
stronger connection between nuclear safety and nuclear
security.
In the light of the world’s energy needs today,
nuclear energy can be an essential element of
sustainable global development, provided it is used
with necessary responsibility. I would like to draw the
Assembly’s special attention to the word
“responsibility”. Chernobyl and Fukushima are tragic
examples, but they teach us very important lessons. It
is not enough to rely only on recommendations,
proposals and encouragement for cooperation when we
deal with nuclear safety issues. I believe that our
responsibility is to create strict legal international
imperatives. We cannot allow any compromises on
safety and security.
In this respect, the efforts of the United Nations,
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the
European Union and other organizations to ensure
nuclear safety throughout the world are critically
needed today. Lithuania emphasizes the key role of the
IAEA in this area. We welcome the ambitious nuclear
safety action plan that was adopted by the IAEA
General Conference in Vienna today.
Lithuania believes that strict adherence to
uniform nuclear safety standards must be obligatory.
Specialized Agency missions for the entire nuclear
cycle, including site evaluation and follow-up
missions, should also become an inseparable part of
any nuclear power plant development. Each and every
nuclear power plant, its site, nuclear technology and
even the ability of the personnel to ensure safety
maintenance should be subject to stress tests. Last but
not least, information about all existing and planned
nuclear projects must be absolutely transparent and
open to public access.
We believe that the nuclear security summit in the
Republic of Korea next year will provide an excellent
platform for discussing nuclear safety and security
issues for the whole world. With a view to that
forthcoming summit, Lithuania is ready to contribute
to the practical measures set forth in the 2010 Nuclear
Security Summit Work Plan.
The prevention of any type of crisis — be it a
military conflict, a nuclear accident or a terrorist
attack — is a challenge for all of us. But it is also an
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opportunity: an opportunity to strengthen the United
Nations leadership, an opportunity to intensify our
joint work, an opportunity to promote dialogue and
mediation, and even an opportunity to save resources
that can then be devoted to research and development,
protection of the environment and support for the most
vulnerable. I invite us all to seize that opportunity for
the sake of our common safety, security and prosperity,
which is what we all wish for.