Lithuania, 2011

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.