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LITHUANIA’S LEADERSHIP OF THE OSCE

HEARING

BEFORE THE

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND 

COOPERATION IN EUROPE

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

Printed for the use of the

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

[CSCE 112–1–1]

(

Available via http://www.csce.gov 

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

HOUSE SENATE

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey,

Chairman 

JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania 

ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama 

PHIL GINGREY, Georgia 

MICHAEL C. BURGESS, Texas 

ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida 

LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER,

New York 

MIKE McINTYRE, North Carolina 

STEVE COHEN, Tennessee

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland,

Co-Chairman 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

TOM UDALL, New Mexico 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut 

ROBERT F. WICKER, Mississippi 

SAXBY CHAMBLISS, Georgia 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire

EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS

MICHAEL H. POSNER, Department of State 

MICHAEL C. CAMUN ̃ EZ, Department of Commerce 

ALEXANDER VERSHBOW, Department of Defense 

(II) 

LITHUANIA’S LEADERSHIP OF THE OSCE 

FEBRUARY 16, 2011

COMMISSIONERS 

Page 

Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe .............................................. 1

Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Co-Chair, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ..................................................... 3

Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Ranking Member, Commission on 

Security and Cooperation in Europe ...................................... 4

Hon. Phil Gingrey, Commissioner, Commission on Security 

and Cooperation in Europe ..................................................... 6

WITNESS 

Audronius Az ̆ubalis, Chairman-in-Office, Organization for 

Security and Cooperation in Europe ...................................... 6

APPENDICES 

Prepared statement of Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin .................... 19

(III) 

(1)

LITHUANIA’S LEADERSHIP OF THE OSCE 

February 16, 2011

COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE

WASHINGTON, DC

[The hearing was held at 3:30 p.m. in room 562, Dirksen Senate 

Office Building, Washington, DC, Hon. Christopher H. Smith, 

Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, 

presiding. 

Commissioners present: Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, 

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, Co-Chair, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Ranking Member, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Hon. Phil 

Gingrey, Commissioner, Commission on Security and Cooperation 

in Europe. 

Witness present: Audronius Az ̆ubalis, Chairman-in-Office, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. 

HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CHAIRMAN, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. SMITH. The hearing will come to order. And I first of all want 

to say to the Foreign Minister and to my colleagues, sorry for being 

late. Got off to a later start than I wanted to. So I do apologize for 

that. 

Mr. CARDIN. It’s a long walk over to the Senate side. 

Mr. SMITH. Yes, but Alcee got here. 

Today, I’m pleased to welcome Foreign Minister Az ̆ubalis to 

share his views with the Lithuania’s OSCE Chairmanship as it 

gets underway. And I want him to know that he is very, very welcome. We are so grateful to have him here today to give his view, 

his vision going forward as the Chair-in-Office. And it’s especially 

important that we meet as Lithuanians at home and abroad celebrate Lithuanian Independence Day, the restoration of their national independence after decades of brutal Soviet domination. 

We join them in this celebration, and in doing so honor the many 

Lithuanians who made great sacrifices to rid their country of Communist repression. Of course, many paid the ultimate price. And 

we honor also those who were killed in the January events of 1991. 

I will never forget my visit to Vilnius, joined by my colleagues 

here, two decades ago—it was the largest delegation, I think, ever 

to travel. Just weeks after the January events, the tension was palpable as we entered the capital in Vilnius and met President 

2

Landsbergis at the heavily fortified parliament while Soviet troops 

occupied nearby buildings. 

I’ll never forget when we went to the TV tower where men and 

women were mourning those who had been gunned down by the 

Soviet troops. Candles were lit all over on the ground marking 

where people had fallen after being murdered by the Soviet troops. 

And there was much prayer; there was much concern, fear, but 

above all, courage. And you could see it in the eyes of people, that 

despite the threat that they faced, they were going to—they were 

resolved. They had a never-quit attitude that was very inspiring. 

Certainly, Lithuania has come a long way since that time. And 

now as a solidly democratic country, a respected member of the 

E.U. and NATO, it is the OSCE Chair-in-Office for 2011, an honor 

it received the old-fashioned way: you earned it. Lithuania is one 

of the great success stories of the post-Soviet states: democratic, 

free, prosperous and with an impressive record of accomplishments 

within Europe and Eurasia. 

And so we welcome your testimony today, Mr. Foreign Minister. 

And just like I said, we’re very, very pleased to have you and members of your delegation with you. 

I do want to emphasize a concern that we have on this commission, and that is your neighbor Belarus. One of the greatest challenges the OSCE faces is the increasing repression in Europe’s last 

dictatorship. As author of the Belarus Democracy Act and sponsor 

of a newly introduced bill for 2011, I and my colleagues are deeply 

concerned over the crackdown against dissent in that country, and 

the fact that so many people that we know personally are languishing in prison and face a very uncertain future. And the use 

of torture, which we’re all concerned about, that has been deployed 

by Lukashenka’s henchmen raises deep concerns. And of course, 

the manipulation of the media, including cyberspace, to achieve 

Lukashenka’s totalitarian ends continues to be a real issue. 

The full range of fundamental freedoms, the right to freedom of 

expression, the right to freedom of religion, the right to freedom of 

assembly and others as we all know are under assault in a number 

of troubling—a number of OSCE countries today, with leaders in 

several bent on maintaining their offices through blatant manipulation, intimidation and worse. 

So we look forward to your work. I also want to welcome the 

OSCE’s continuing attention to the issue of anti-Semitism, which 

we in this commission have championed for a lot of years. And we 

note the great work that Rabbi Andy Baker has done as Personal 

Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office. 

Finally, I am confident that against the backdrop of your own 

country’s national experience, you’ll use your leadership position to 

speak out on behalf of these human rights issues. I know it—I 

mean, your record before precedes you. And all of us here in this 

room greatly admire it. And again, I want you to know that we 

pledge our cooperation and whatever support we can provide to 

your tenure as Chair-in-Office. Please count it, as we’re a phone 

call away. 

I’d like to yield to the Co-Chair, Mr. Ben Cardin. 

3

HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, CO-CHAIR, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. CARDIN. Well, thank you, Congressman Smith. And I join 

you in welcoming the Foreign Minister to our hearing, the first 

hearing of the Helsinki Commission this year. And I think it’s appropriate that a Chair-in-Office be our first witness. And we very 

much appreciate you being here. We’d also like to welcome the Ambassador to our committee room. And thank you for the leadership 

that Lithuania will be using in regards to the work of the OSCE. 

As Congressman Smith said, 20 years ago I was in Vilnius as the 

Soviet tanks were in the city. We did go to the TV towers and saw 

the oppression of the Soviet Union. And when we—our visit there 

did not meet much pleasure from the Soviets. 

We went—but we expressed ourselves. And I was proud of our 

commitment to an independent Lithuania. We had never recognized the Soviets’ takeover of the country. And I’m very proud of 

the role that the Lithuanian-American community has played in 

speaking out for a free Lithuania. 

So it was very satisfying to return to Vilnius for the OSCE parliamentary assembly and see just a vibrant country, a vibrant city, 

a free country, and the progress that has been made in such a 

short period of time to be one of the leaders in Europe. So it’s with 

pride that we welcome you here. And we look at Lithuania as a 

true friend of the United States and one of the countries that has 

represented the type of commitment to the OSCE principles that 

we believe is a model for other countries to follow. 

Having said that, I do want to specifically mention the issue that 

I spoke to the President, the Speaker, and the Foreign Minister 

when I was in Vilnius in 2009. And that was the need for Lithuania to enact laws to resolve long-standing claims regarding 

wrongfully confiscated property. Unfortunately, notwithstanding 

some movement on this issue last year, legislation has not yet been 

passed. 

And I know there are difficult political and economic factors. But 

the longer it takes to get this done, the more difficult it is. And 

time, to me, is critically important. These issues have been left unresolved for too long. And every year, it makes it more complicated 

and more difficult to resolve these property issues. I would just 

urge you particularly in your leadership role to set the right example and to see that that legislation, in fact, is enacted in your country. 

As you assume the Chairmanship of the OSCE amid a full range 

of challenges especially in the human dimension, given the mandate of the Helsinki Commission, we are particularly focused on 

this aspect of the OSCE’s work—that is, the human rights dimension. We know there are a lot—they are multidimensional. We 

know there are a lot of issues that are interrelated; when you’re 

dealing with trafficking of humans or combating corruption, it very 

much affects all three baskets of the OSCE. 

In that regard, I’d like to mention an initiative that this commission has taken a very high priority and that’s the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative. There’s been a lot of progress made 

and in our Parliamentary Assembly, we have adopted resolutions 

encouraging all states to fully participate. 

4

But I want you do know that the United States, through the 

work of this Commission, has taken a leadership role on transparency. Last year, in the Dodd-Frank legislation, an amendment 

that was authored by Senator Lugar and myself was incorporated 

that requires all mineral companies that are listed on the U.S. 

Stock Exchange to file their transparency on mineral contracts. 

This is an effort to make sure that the mineral wealth of a country is not the mineral curse. So many of the poor nations of the 

world that are mineral wealthy find that their mineral values go 

to funding corruption rather than helping the people of the nation. 

I mention that to you because I think during this year, we can 

make strong progress towards transparency and good governance, 

which I think is a critically important part of the OSCE work. 

And let me also echo Chairman Smith’s remarks regarding the 

important work of OSCE in combatting anti-Semitism and other 

forms of intolerance. As you may be aware, the Helsinki Commission was the first to raise concerns of the spike of anti-Semitism 

and related violence in the OSCE region back in 2002 and we continue to closely monitor this issue and urge you to do so as well. 

We think this is a year of opportunity within the OSCE and we 

pledge that our Commission wants to work very closely with the 

chair, with the Parliamentary Assembly and with the Permanent 

Council to do what we can to advance the principles. 

Let me apologize in advance. I’m not going to be able to stay 

through the hearing. There’s an event that was scheduled in the 

White House that I need to be at and I apologize for not being able 

to stay through the hearings. 

Mr. SMITH. Chairman Cardin, thank you very much. I yield to 

Ranking Member Hastings. 

HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS, RANKING MEMBER, COMMISSION 

ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And Ben, 

we don’t feel sorry for you, going to the White House. I mean you 

know—no sympathy here. [Laughter.] 

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE. Find out what they’re serving. [Laughter.] 

Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Chairman, before we go forward, if protocol 

would allow, could we invite the Foreign Minister to come to the 

table? He’s seated at the back. Yes, sir. OK. 

In addition, Mr. Chairman, I’d like to extend a personal welcome 

to our colleague, my good friend from Georgia, Phil Gingrey to the 

Commission. I keep trying to get away from Phil. We served together on the Rules Committee and now, here we are again. But 

we had fun and we’ll have fun. 

Mr. Foreign Minister, I’m so pleased to welcome you and especially as Chairman-in-Office. You certainly are no stranger to many 

of us who are mindful of your leadership on the Lithuanian delegation to OSCE Parliamentary Assembly meetings. I think we first 

met at the Seimas and I am ever grateful for the gracious hospitality, the number of years that I came to Lithuania. 

The only exception I have is on too many occasions, I ate too 

much blynai and I brought it back with me and it’s showing in my 

middle. My responsibilities as the PA President brought me to the 

far corners of the expansive OSCE region from the five Central 

5

Asian countries and from the Balkans to the Baltic. Our counties 

and just about countries and just about every place in between. 

It’s been my privilege, as you would know, to head a number of 

international election observations along with Lithuanian colleagues on behalf of the OSCE. And I’ve also had the pleasure of 

visiting most of the OSCE field missions and appreciate your commitment, Mr. Minister, to do the same to get out into the field, 

where the real work of the OSCE is accomplished. 

The Western Balkans continue to be the primary focus of the 

OSCE field resources. And as the situation in the region improves, 

the organization may wish to look for ways to streamline and 

downsize its activities, freeing some resources that perhaps could 

be directed elsewhere. At the same time, other international actors 

like the United Nations are also moving their missions and personnel from the Balkans to other areas around the globe. And 

OSCE might be considered a useful last presence until stability, democracy and integration are assured. 

We also know of lingering problems in the region such as the political turmoil in Albania. And I did the Albanian elections with 

OSCE observers and found it particularly difficult. But your chairmanship effectively responded to discourage further violence and 

I’m deeply appreciative of that, as are my colleagues and hope that 

you continue as they approach their next critical local elections. 

The situation in Kosovo and Bosnia also remain of particular 

concern and official corruption and organized crime both plague all 

the countries of the region. I hope today, that you will give us an 

assessment of the OSCE’s potential to deal with these regional 

issues during the course of your Chairmanship. 

And I would point out, additionally, Mr. Minister, as the Assembly’s Special Representative on Mediterranean Affairs, many of us 

have pursued extensive engagement with the countries of the 

broader Middle East region. Against this backdrop, I will be especially interested in your assessment of the upheavals in Tunisia 

and Egypt and their implications for security in the Mediterranean 

region and beyond. 

Now, Chairman Smith and myself and Mr. Aderholt, who isn’t 

with us right at this moment. I know the three of us will be in Vienna next week and I’m mindful that there are preparations for 

interaction with our Mediterranean partners. 

Finally, while I comment the ongoing work of the OSCE in promoting tolerance and combatting anti-Semitism and other forms of 

discrimination and racism, too often, commitments on paper have 

yet to be translated into action, Mr. Minister. And I would note 

that the year 2011 has been designated the International Year for 

People of African Descent by the United Nations. 

I—participating with Congressman Smith and Senator Cardin—

have fought very actively in the arena in the OSCE sphere with regard to anti-Semitism. And more recently, I, along with others, 

have begun efforts to address racism in the arena. And I would 

urge that you give consideration to that subject as well. 

Our work here at the Helsinki Commission is to get countries to 

live up to their commitments and our shared commitments. I thank 

you, Mr. Chairman, Chairman Smith and welcome, again, Minister. 

6

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Mr. Hastings. I’d like to now 

yield to the newest member of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a medical doctor and a very good friend, Dr. 

Phil Gingrey. 

HON. PHIL GINGREY, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON 

SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Mr. GINGREY. Well, Chairman Smith, thank you very much and 

Co-Chairman Cardin and my good friend, Alcee Hastings. It is an 

honor to be selected by my speaker to have an opportunity to serve 

on this Commission, to be 1 of 9 House members and to join with 

our Senate colleagues and Department of State, Department of 

Commerce, Department of Defense on being on this Commission. 

I look forward to your Chairmanship. I have also visited your 

country and your capital city. I look forward to listening very carefully to your presentation today. I, too, might not be able to stay 

for the entire presentation because of other commitments. But just 

let me just say that I’m happy to be here. I plan to be a very active 

member and I look forward to it. Thank you very much. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you very much, Dr. Gingrey. Let me, before 

going into our very distinguished Foreign Minister, Mr. Az ̆ubalis, 

let me introduce Mark Milosch, our Chief of Staff for the Commission. Mark got his J.D. from the University of Michigan and his 

Ph.D. in European history from the University of Iowa and he’s 

here with us today. 

And Mr.—Foreign Minister, we really look forward to working 

with you going forward, that we have a very, very productive year. 

So the floor is yours, sir. 

AUDRONIUS AZ ̆ UBALIS, CHAIRMAN-IN-OFFICE, ORGANIZATION 

FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. Chairman Smith, Co-Chairman Cardin, Ranking 

Member Hastings, Mr. Gingrey: You know, the possibility to be 

here, of course, could be measured also by your actions 20 years 

ago, by your solidarity. 

Today, I have a privilege and honor to be here and to witness 

you—our efforts and our achievements and our view on the world, 

which has not become a more easy place than it was 20 years ago. 

But at least my country, and some others to whom you helped so 

much, lives a normal life, sometimes maybe even a dull one. But 

I think there’s nothing wrong with that. 

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, 35 years ago, in 1976, following the signing of a final act, a Helsinki committee was formed 

in Vilnius. I need not remind you that Lithuania was not free at 

that time. I associated myself with the members of that new Helsinki committee. In 1976, for this action, the state authorities had 

me similarly removed from university. 

Today, I have an honor to appear before your Commission as 

Lithuanian Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE. In this capacity, I recently visited Moscow, where I met with my old friend, Mrs. 

Lyudmila Alekseeva, Chairwoman of a Moscow Helsinki group. I 

was reminded that 35 years ago, physicial Yuri Orlov established 

the public group to promote fulfillment of the Helsinki Accords in 

the U.S.S.R., Soviet Union. On 11 and 12 May this year, Russia 

7

will commemorate this event and pay tribute to those courageous 

individuals who stood against totalitarianism and oppressions. 

A little later, the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the 

birth of Andrei Sakharov will provide another occasion. I draw the 

attention of respected senators and representatives to the significance of those grassroot organizations and private individuals who 

continue the vision of Helsinki. Individuals like these paved the 

way at the beginning. 

The continuous engagement of the United States with the Helsinki process and OSCE activities was always essential to the organization’s success. I would like to use this opportunity to thank the 

United States and, in particular, the unique institution of the Helsinki Commission for their support to the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship on the follow-up to the Astana summit. 

The OSCE participating States have made progress, individual 

and collectively, toward the goals of the Helsinki process. Today, 

however, we still see individuals facing challenges in securing basic 

human rights, ensuring there are fair elections, protecting freedom 

of speech and the safety of journalists and ensuring that 

antiterrorism measures comply with international human rights 

standards. 

Mr. Chairman, as the Chairman-in-Office of OSCE, I have set 

goals that will further the key principles of the Helsinki Decalogue. 

Support implementation of the commitments undertaken in Paris, 

Istanbul and Astana. And realize the vision of the security community throughout our shared OSCE area. In this endeavor, I have already visited Vienna, Brussels, Moscow, Kiev, Moldova, Chisinau, 

and Tiraspol. And now, I am here. Yesterday, I was in New York. 

The Chairmanship has engaged over the situation in Belarus and 

the OSCE presence in Minsk. OSCE’s Secretary General, Mr. 

Brichambaut, or [inaudible] Director Janusz Lenarczyk and OSCE 

representative for freedom of the media, Dunja Milatovic remain in 

close contact with me coordinating actions in relations to Belarus. 

But I must say here that what I’ve got, the last news today from 

my vice minister who is now in Belarus that the Belarusians—one 

goal just to keep the open OSCE presence and to monitor—with a 

possibility to monitor the situation in this country, to monitor possible trial processes and of course, sadly—but I must say that we 

got the Soviet-style nyet, no. [Inaudible]. 

In close coordination with the United States and European Union 

where chairmanship conducted preventive diplomatic efforts to 

help the government and opposition get out of dangerous political 

gridlock in Albania. [Inaudible]. My special representative for protracted conflicts together with the United Nations and E.U. cochairs of the Geneva discussions visited key capitals and talked to 

key parties in preparation for the next round of the Geneva talks 

in March. 

The resumption of the formal 5+2 negotiation format has become 

my key preoccupation in the last weeks. My interlocutors, High 

Representative Ashton, Foreign Ministers Lavrov of Russia, 

Gryshchenko of Ukraine and Leanca of Moldova have sent me signals of the need to move ahead. Lithuania is under no illusions 

about the enormity of the tasks that face us this year. 

8

As the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, I plan to focus our attention 

on specific key outcomes, which we will pursue on a step-by-step 

basis. Our key goals: register tangible progress in addressing protracted conflicts, significantly improve our record of implementation of media freedom commitments, promote tolerance education 

throughout the OSCE area in order to combat hate crimes and discrimination, address transnational threats including border management and other projects involving Afghanistan, drug trafficking, 

cyber threats, and, last one, enhance the OSCE’s role in energy security dialogue. 

During my recent visit to Russia, Ukraine and Moldova, I met 

with the governments involved in the 5+2 talks and with the political leadership on both sides of the river Nistru. We discussed ways 

forward in the settlement process, fully respecting the sovereignty 

and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova. 

I remain cautiously optimistic that the resumption of the official 

negotiations in the 5+2 format, that a full agenda is achievable. 

Meanwhile, I recognize the need for continued focus on restoring 

trust between the two sides throughout the implementation of various confidence-building measures. 

I will shortly meet again with the co-chairs of the Minsk group. 

The threat of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has never been 

more dangerous in recent years. Minister Lavrov and I shared our 

deep concern over this at that recent meeting. Long agreed-upon 

confidence and security-building measures must be implemented 

immediately. 

Snipers must be withdrawn along the line of contacts. I just want 

to remind you of a sad statistic that over the last year the snipers, 

from both sides, shot 36 people. The OSCE monitoring capacity 

must be beefed up. There is therefore a pressing need for mechanisms and for two-way communication channels about the peace 

process and about public reactions to it. 

Progress on the conflict in Georgia will not be easy either. I will 

use the Geneva Process to rebuild trust and will work to restore 

a meaningful OSCE presence in Georgia. I will work with the participating states to explore possibilities for extending the OSCE’s 

activities in Georgia, including a meaningful OSCE presence on the 

ground. Full-fledged roles played by the United Nations and the 

E.U. remain essential and must not be diluted. 

In March, I will visit Baku, Yerevan, and Tbilisi. In all of the 

capitals, I will talk to my counterparts, opposition, and civil society 

arguing that engagement and peaceful negotiated settlements and 

continuing on the democratic path are the best ways to fulfill their 

aspirations of these proud nations for freedom, liberty and prosperity. 

Ladies and gentlemen, when you look at the causes of the conflict 

in the OSCE area, you are repeatedly struck with how often discrimination against minorities lies at the root of the problem. 

Working quietly and discreetly with the higher commissioner on 

national minorities, our Lithuanian chairmanship will continue to 

seek ways to guarantee minority rights. The chairmanship will continue to encourage the work of the ODIHR in support of nondiscriminatory treatment of Roma and Sinti. Equality for woman 

and man will remain a central tenet of our programs. 

9

Together with well-known for all of us Rabbi Andrew Baker, who 

has happily agreed to continue his service as a Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office for combating anti-Semitism, we 

will hold an event in Prague next month, specifically devoted to the 

struggle against anti-Semitism in public discourse. 

I am also pleased to tell you that by the declaration of the parliament and decision of the Lithuanian Government, Lithuania will 

mark the 70th anniversary of the Holocaust with a yearlong commemoration featuring numerous activities, conferences, education 

in the schools and acts of remembrance. 

And here, dear colleagues, I have with me the program translated in English. Later on, this program will be given to you. And 

if you will find appropriate time and place and activities, you are 

most welcome to come and to take part in these events. 

My personal representative in combating discrimination against 

Christians and other religions will organize an event on this topic 

in Rome in May. My personal representative on combating discrimination against Muslims will roll out new guidelines for educational tools. Our community is safest when human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law are upheld. Working with a 

representative on freedom of media, I will call an OSCE conference 

on the safety of journalists in Vilnius on 7–8 June. I am speaking 

out in support of the freedom of media. 

We will look again at our individual electoral processes and work 

harder to see that commitments are lived up to. The follow-up process of implementing ODIHR election-related recommendation is an 

integral part of this process. Shortly, the ODIHR will present its 

report on the presidential elections in Belarus. Despite certain 

steps in the right directions, the people in Belarus were not given 

the opportunity to participate in elections that were consistent with 

OSCE commitments. 

The decision by Belarus to close down the OSCE office in Minsk 

eliminates a valuable resource for helping the authorities in civil 

society in Belarus address the shortcomings. The activities that 

were within the mandate of that office should continue. And I will 

work through all concerned to make this happen. But as I said before, not much hope. 

And of course, I have encouraged the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to continue cooperating with the election observation missions from ODIHR in monitoring elections with each of these borders bringing their own special talents and strengths to that essential task. 

Dear members of the Commission, some of the greatest threats 

to our individual and collective security are transnational threats. 

I am speaking of challenges to cyber security, support for terrorism, the trafficking of human beings, weapons and drugs. 

I am particularly satisfied to report, based on resultant travels 

and discussions, that there is broad E.U., United States, and Russian support to address transnational threats related to terrorism, 

cyber security and drug trafficking and to intensify OSCE engagement with Afghanistan; particularly through the border management and security programs and better coordination on the regional level and between different actors. 

10

The OSCE cannot launch large-scale projects inside Afghanistan. 

But it can continue to bring Afghanis to our programs and work 

with border-control programs. We are to make better use of our 

OSCE field operations in Central Asia as well as OSCE institutions 

in Dushanbe and Bishkek. 

Lithuania has constantly supported strengthening energy security in the OSCE area. We will speak to promote energy dialogue 

as a factor for peace and cooperation. We will promote dialogue on 

energy security issues by using the OSCE’s unique framework that 

involves some of the main energy producers, consumers and transit 

countries. 

Summing up, throughout this year, the Chairmanship will be 

able to advance the OSCE agenda as long as key players, the 

United States, Russian Federation, and the E.U. support the relevance of and our commitment to the principles on which this organization is based, and maintain the level of cooperation and dialogue, which was evident at the Astana OSCE summit. 

The OSCE remains the most inclusive and comprehensive regional security organization in the Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian 

area. It will continue to provide a unique forum. I intend that we 

follow a pragmatic and constructive course. We must move forward 

one step at a time, promoting our ideals and commitments in 

issues and regions where we can make a difference. 

Mr. Chairman, members of Commission, thank you for your kind 

attention. I would like to ask Mr. Smith, is it appropriate now to 

make some answers, which were raised by some of members of 

your Commission? 

Mr. SMITH. Sure, we’re very flexible. Please do. 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. First of all, I would like to inform about—regarding the question, which was raised by Mr. Cardin—about fear, 

treatment of the past and compensation on lost properties. I just 

want to say that in November 2010, the Parliament of the Republic 

of Lithuania approved the first reading of a draft law on the compensation of the immovable property of the Jewish communities. 

The draft law was approved by vast majority of the parliamentarians from all political parties: 67 votes for and only 2 votes against. 

Further legal procedures include the deliberations on the draft 

law in the parliamentary committees and commissions. And of 

course, I have no—I would say—responsibility to talk how this law 

will move. But let me express my belief—and I believe that during 

this spring session, which will start at March 11—we will move 

ahead. 

And the last one was about our attitude—chairmanship attitude—toward the event in Tunisia and Egypt. Here, I just want to 

say one thing, very simple. The OSCE, as you know perfectly, has 

no economical leverages, has no military power. But the OSCE has 

a unique three institutions: ODIHR, the Office of the High Commissioner on national minorities, and of course, the office of Madame Dunja Milatovic on the freedom of the press. 

And we are treating, of course, these two countries with all respect as partner OSCE countries. And if there would be such a 

small [deleted: smallest] request from one another country to share 

the expertise on consulting, how to organize future elections, how 

to organize observation of these elections, how to involve in this 

11

processes civic society, I think no doubt I would use all my—I 

would say—powers as a Chair in office to urge these institutions 

to go and to help. But first of all, we should get the request. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Foreign Minister Az ̆ubalis, thank you very much for 

your testimony, for answering those initial questions raised by 

Commissioners. Let me just get right to Belarus if I could. Earlier 

this week, I—and I’m sure several of the other Commissioners—

met with several of the family members who are obviously in great 

agony over their loved ones being incarcerated. 

And my question would be, what do you think the OSCE can do 

on the ground? I know that the Minsk OSCE mission has been obviously removed from the country or sent out. But what can we 

do—or what can you do—to ensure or try to ensure that the prisoners are not being tortured? Is there any coordination contemplated with the ICRC or any other organization? 

And as you know, the Obama Administration and the EU both 

have initiated significant sanctions, ratcheted up those sanctions 

with regards to Lukashenka. Do you have any other ideas what 

might be done to further isolate this despotic regime and the cruelty that he practices everyday—that is to say, Lukashenka? 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. You know, Mr. Chairman, it’s a very tough question. [Laughter.] First of all, I would like to say that as you know, 

OSCE presence requires that host nation’s consent. 

Mr. SMITH. Right. 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. And here, we failed to convince them because 

first time, they announced—I got the call from my counterpart 

Martynaw on the eve of a new year—on Christmas, sorry, on 

Christmas. And he just informed me that we are going to close. 

After that, I’ve sent a numerous number of our delegations from 

our diplomats trying to convince. I’ve received in Vilnius some of 

the officials from Minsk also trying to convince them. But it doesn’t 

help. 

Of course, I consulted all my partners, starting from German, 

Poles and others. And but it looks like this regime is going directly 

to self-isolation. But I must say that autonomous OSCE institutions will be encouraged to continue their efforts to get into this 

country and to witness—to help, all the possibilities that they 

could. But at present time, as I said, I got the message, till the—

till the spring, there is not much hope to see. 

But on other hand, what we could do—just—let’s take CiO conference in Vilnius on June 7, 8 on the safety of journalists. The 

OSCE could do just one thing to highlight, to put the fire—light—

to put the focus, international focus, on one or another issue and 

which is our strength, to show that something is going wrong, to 

invite a witness as now I’m witnessing in front of you, to invite 

those family members who are jailed, to invite international experts and just to give as much as possible international opinion 

pressure. 

This is our main tool. And I’m not going to give up this and in 

all possible occasion, I will speak about these sad events in 

Belarus. 

Mr. SMITH. I deeply appreciate this. This Commission will do 

likewise. I think what Lukashenka is counting on is for our angst 

12

and anger and concern to abate, you know, to get displaced by 

what’s happening in Egypt or some other hotspot. And he needs to 

know that the concern will only grow and the scrutiny will only increase and his isolation, if that is his choice, will only become more 

acute. 

And frankly, the day will come when he will be held to account, 

like Milosevic, had he not died prematurely, at The Hague for 

crimes against humanity; because certainly, Lukashenka ought to 

be in the dock, the sooner the better. 

Let me ask you very briefly and I’ll just go through a few questions and then yield to my colleagues. With regards to the media 

freedom conference that you are contemplating on June 7th and 

8th, I know this will be a part of it, but just to add the strongest 

emphasis and exclamation point to it, but the bigger the focus on 

the Internet and the new modes of media, the better. 

We’re seeing everywhere that that’s what Lukashenka and others are using to break up—Ahmadinejad certainly did in Tehran 

and they’re getting a great deal of aiding and abetting by the dictatorship in China. We have numerous reports that the Chinese are 

very active in Minsk as they are all over the world selling their 

tools of repression. 

And to the extent possible to expose any complicity by U.S. corporations as well as European corporations in creating cybertools 

that are then used against the dissidents and human rights activists, I think that needs more emphasis rather than less going forward. 

Let me also just ask you, we often recognize that this commission 

has—and I’m sure you have as well—that anti-Semitism often 

spikes concurrently with activities in the Middle East. And certainly, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt could be the 

harbinger of another Hamas and much more anti-Semitic and antiIsrael perspective. 

I would hope—and I’m sure Rabbi Andy Baker is onto this, but 

as Chair-in-Office, whatever proactively can be done to mitigate, 

you know, the rising anti-Semitism that will surely flow, I believe, 

from activities in Egypt and in other places like in the Middle East. 

I mean crisis often leads to more anti-Semitic activities. And it gets 

whipped up by those who hate Jews. 

So I would hope, proactively, whatever you could do. I will be 

abroad with you and Rabbi Baker. So I’m looking forward to that. 

Thank you for scheduling that and for taking the lead on that. It 

is certainly deeply appreciated. 

And finally, on the issue of human trafficking, which you referenced in your statement, this commission, as well, has been leaders, I think, over the years on it. I would ask if we could look—

if you would look at the increasing problem of runaways and 

younger and younger women who are trafficked. 

We did a—we, the United States, some of our NGOs, Shared 

Hope International and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was very much a part of this—looked at the runaway issue in the United States and found to our shock and dismay 

that at least 100,000 American girls who start out as runaways, 

within 24 to 48 hours, are often turned into—forced into prostituVerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 U:\WORK\021611.TXT KATIE
13

tion by pimps who drug them and beat them. And the average age 

is 13. 

And these young girls have not only their innocence and their 

lives and their bodies exploited by these traffickers, surely, that’s 

not a phenomenon just happening here. And I think we all have 

to bring much more attention to that terrible exploitation. 

Yes, we know that by force, fraud and coercion, many women in 

their 20s are compelled into modern-day slavery. But increasingly, 

it’s getting younger. And so I act as the Special Representative for 

trafficking in the PA and would hope that, you know, we could coordinate even more in the coming year. 

And one last best-practice idea that I would ask you to promulgate throughout the OSCE region and that is an idea that was 

thought up by our friends at American Airlines. And that is to 

train flight attendants to be the eyes and ears, especially the eyes, 

when especially women are on airline flights, to recognize what a 

trafficking victim looks like. Don’t take action herself or 

theirselves—the man or woman who happens to be the flight attendant. [Inaudible]. 

Let the pilot know and when the offloading happens at the point 

of destination, they can separate them and find out whether or not 

that’s a trafficking victim. Numerous instances of trafficking have 

been busted by U.S. law enforcement as our airline folks get 

trained up in very simple procedures like that. 

I would hope that would spread throughout the OSCE region 

overnight to stop this cruelty called human trafficking. So I just 

share that with you as a best practice and hopefully, you can do 

it. But any answers to any of those questions and then I yield to 

Commissioner Hastings. Thank you. 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. Thank you, dear colleague. First of all, I would 

like say that of course, when you mention the freedom of electronic 

media, of course it’s an inseparable part of any other media—

there’s more than one. And that’s why we are going to discuss it, 

as I said in this conference. 

And also, I would like to pay your attention that we are also 

going to discuss this question. It’s on May 8 and 11 in Warsaw because in Warsaw, we are going to celebrate 20 years of ODIHR’s 

activities. And it’s a right place to discuss these questions because 

I think it’s a right place and right institution. I’m also encouraging 

you to come or to send your experts. 

Mr. SMITH. And please be looking at, with all due respect, at the 

Chinese connection. They have mastered the art——

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. I got it. Okay, we—I mean it will be on the 

table. How successful it will be, we will see. Now, you touched very 

fundamental and very sad question. It’s human trafficking. But you 

know, I think it’s—I just could praise your initiative to train the 

stewardess, stewards in the airplanes. 

But the most—and the trafficking mostly going on the ground. 

That’s why I’m happy that we got—we’re understanding with U.S. 

officials from Russians and from Central Asia countries to work 

closely during this Chairmanship and hopefully, the next one, on 

improving the border regime and border procedures and strengthening the border control because here, I would say, biggest chain—

14

if you are talking about such kind of events in the whole OSCE 

area. [Inaudible]. 

That’s what I think—it’s not just human trafficking. It’s drug 

trafficking and all these other related things—guns trafficking and 

so on. That’s why i think it fits to what you said and we are really—have intentions to work with the Central Asian countries. I’ve 

met during the General Assembly of United Nations this autumn 

in New York. I’ve met all my counterparts from Central Asia. 

And we’ve discussed by our possible activities because as you 

know, you couldn’t put a question on the table if you want real—

to get the real success. You should inform the other side that you 

are going to do that and that. But I’m happy to inform you that 

all my counterparts from Central Asia countries, we agreed on 

that. 

And we’re—second thing about spreading anti-Semitism. I must 

say that not just anti-Semitism, anti-Christianity is also spreading. 

And here, I just want to say that we do not need even—of course, 

we do, to look somewhere. But in Europe, we see this also, there’s 

some—not very, I would say, good tendencies. 

If you would look to the report on Tel Aviv University, which was 

made regarding the anti-Semitism cases in 2010, you will see some 

discouraging numbers. But also, as I said, in Prague, we are going 

to address very strongly on anti-Semitism in public discourse because that’s what—how it started—such events. And of course, in 

Rome, as I said, we are going to discuss the anti-Christian tendencies in current world. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. Just to conclude, the—Pope Benedict has 

said that the greatest persecution of all is against Christians and 

that is absolutely true in most of the dictatorships like China, 

North Korea. But there is a growing, I believe, discriminatory attitude towards many Christians in Europe that as you pointed out, 

has really gone unfocused upon. So I’m very glad that you will be 

bringing light and attention to that. So thank you. 

Commissioner Hastings? 

Mr. HASTINGS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and Mr. 

Minister. When I listened to you and your ambitious travel schedule, I get tired. [Laughter]. I know you must. And I also admire 

very much the ambitious goals you put forward in your presentation to us. 

And I would only add that one of the things in the 15 years, now, 

that I have been working in the OSCE sphere, that I find continuously that change, almost like in this institution, is slow. And quite 

honestly, not because you’re in office and I perceive you as a friend. 

I did almost every Chair-in-Office, know them in a previous way 

in their respective capacities in their countries. 

But at the very same time, I don’t think a year is enough to do 

the things that you—or any Chair-in-Office—ought to. But it seems 

to me that somebody needs to raise it inside on the OSCE and it 

may be something on your way out that you would do. 

We have similar portions of our institution that I have disagreements with. I think that in our intelligence community, people 

should serve there 12 years. It takes 6 years to learn just about 

a little bit of everything and then it’s almost time to leave. And so 

15

that’s the same thing. And I recognize that you’ll be in Troika and 

all of that, but it might be something you may wish to consider. 

Additionally, in your reply to your reply to the question that I 

raised—all of us have watched in amazement the dramatic changes 

in government that have occurred during the past several weeks in 

Tunisia and in Egypt. And you mentioned some of the tools that 

OSCE has to assist if a request is made by any of those countries. 

I wish to make a commitment to you right now that I will do everything that I can as the representative to the Mediterranean 

partners from the Parliamentary Assembly to seek out such a request and no later than yesterday, meeting with Ambassador 

Tekaya, the Tunisian Minister—Ambassador to the United States. 

[Inaudible]. 

I raised that question with him and he assured me, one, that in 

their election, which is to take place inside 6 months and I think 

that’s ambitious, the same as in Egypt. They’re saying 6 months. 

I think that’s pretty ambitious. It would seem reasonably that a 

year would be proper time for them to get lift. [Inaudible]. 

And I recognize the pressures that they are receiving from their 

populations. But their Ambassador assured me that he would make 

such a request, so I will be on the phone with him telling him 

about this hearing. And I ask him to have his Ambassador in Vienna to meet with me next week so that I can raise a similar question. 

So I’m going to commit to you that I’m going to try to get that 

request at least from Tunisia. I serve as the Chair of the Tunisian 

Caucus here in the House of Representatives. I put that to the side, 

really hope that during your tenure, that you will do everything 

you can to enhance the engagement of the Mediterranean partners. 

And I think it now is more significant than at other times, even 

from its beginnings. The one question that I have comes, again, 

from another visit. Day before yesterday, I met with Foreign Minister Gryshchenko. He’s here in Washington doing work as are you 

in meeting with the State Department and other officials. 

I didn’t come away from that meeting too optimistic about 

Ukraine and human rights and the media. And I note from your 

travels—and I commend you—for example, when you were in Russia, you did meet with NGOs. I also know that you have been recently in Ukraine. And when you were there, gave us the benefit 

of your thoughts. 

Mine are that Ukraine is moving more toward authoritarianism 

and that’s my term. And if you had asked me when I left Lithuania—when I first met you on my way to Ukraine, if you had 

asked me then, after the Orange Revolution, I would have thought 

all of the bright aspects for democracy to bloom would have occurred. 

And now, regrettably, I feel very strongly that there is a retrenchment there similar to the retrenchment that I witnessed in 

Russia. And if you would comment on both, I would appreciate it. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. Thank you. First, I would like to say that during 

my trip to Russia and to Ukraine and during the meeting with 

their state officials, including my counterparts, I raised the quesVerDate 0ct 09 2002 12:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 U:\WORK\021611.TXT KATIE
16

tions, which worries us, about the freedom of assembly, about 

human right defenders, about the fear trials. 

And after that, I gave this—my evaluation of the situation to the 

media, which is, by the way, fairly reported, including from—starting from Russia and finishing with Ukraine. And of course, we see 

some place for improvement—no doubt. Nobody’s going to say that 

everything is fine with all these issues in these countries. 

But at the same time, I just would like to give you my personal 

belief. I believe that it takes time—it takes a very concentrated effort, chairmanship by chairmanship, including other institutions, 

other organizations. And we should be very persistent. We 

shouldn’t give up. We shouldn’t put under listed goals, let’s say, 

that someone’s saying—someone would say that our goal after 3 

years to see this or this country fully democratic and so on. 

I think it will be too naive. I think we should be in process. We 

shouldn’t observe process. We should be in process. It means that 

we should be engaged in these countries. We should communicate. 

We should help the civic society to grow civic society. I think this 

is important. 

I think to leave civic society aside—I think that the best example 

is Tunisia and Egypt. We left it. We must admit. We talk with 

leadership. That’s what I think our primary goal is, to work in this 

direction. And to say that one country is going somewhere wrong—

I think that only one way to secure—I would say the development 

toward the democratic changes, you should be present. [Inaudible]. 

That’s what I just—could promise—that during my year, I will 

be—Lithuania will be present. And also, I would like just ask you, 

the United States, and your committee to be present, to support 

the civic organizations, to support the human right defenders. This 

is only one way—how we could [inaudible] things. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Dr. Gingrey? 

Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Chairman, thank you and Mr. Minister, let me 

ask you this question: In spite of repeated objections from the 

international community and the Government of Georgia, Russia 

continues to build up its military presence in Abkhazia and South 

Ossetia, the Georgian territories. 

Georgian displaced citizens also continue to be prevented from 

returning to their homes in these occupied territories. As many 

have pointed out previously, Russia’s actions go against the August 

12th, 2008 ceasefire agreement which ended the Russia-Georgia 

war and violate its Helsinki commitments. 

How may the OSCE’s conflict resolution and post-conflict rehabilitation experience in Southeastern Europe further the rule of 

law and peace-building efforts in Georgia? I know that’s a long 

question, but we would appreciate your response. 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. You know, during few last years, we lost two 

field missions, one in Georgia and now, the second one in Belarus. 

But I think that we shouldn’t give up and I’m using any—every opportunity when I’m talking with my counterparts and counterpart 

from Russia to raise this question about the possibility and beneficial possibility for all sides to restore the OSCE presence, I would 

say, more gently in the region of conflict. 

I also, am going to Georgia quite soon and I will urge the Georgian side to be supportive to implementing the confidence-building 

17

measures along the administrative border. I think here, we should 

start from the scratch. But at the same time, as you know, you 

know, it’s—our organization, which we are all members, have their 

own rules—have their limits. 

But it would be—and fear if—it would be not advocate and not 

to participate actively in the Geneva Process. [Inaudible]. I see the 

Geneva Process as a very important one. I would say the starting 

point from—I don’t want to say to the bright future—but to more 

peaceful and comprehensive settlement of this conflict, of this situation. 

That’s why I was quite happy that yesterday, when I presented 

our program to the Security Council, I got unanimous support from 

the members of Security Council for funding and continuing United 

Nations’ participation in Geneva Process, which also shows that 

you know, we should consolidate our efforts. Thank you. 

Mr. GINGREY. Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Just one final question, if I could. With regards to 

Kyrgyzstan, as you know, after many months of negotiation, the 

OSCE has developed and deployed, I should say, police assistance 

mission to Kyrgyzstan. Could you just speak to that and how well 

you think that’s going? 

And in Central Asia in general, you know, one of thoughts of 

the—having the Kazakhstan chairmanship might be to increase 

OSCE engagement in Central Asia. It’s not clear that that’s happened. Do you have any plans to try to, you know, make some improvements in that region? 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. Thank you. I just want to say, first of all, that 

of course, the Kazakh’s OSCE Chairmanship and with Astana 

Summit itself, brought new attention and momentum to OSCE activities in this region. And I think we should use this good momentum to strengthen the presence—OSCE presence. 

And I think that the past 2 years—we also have seen a significant expansion of our practical work, of our field missions in the 

region, in particular, on broader management—border management 

and law-enforcement training. That’s what I mentioned before. And 

in addition to the Bishkek academy, we have seen the opening of 

a separate customs training academy in Bishkek. Also, we will see 

participation in a Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe, 

Tajikistan. And we believe that there is a significant potential to 

build on these efforts. 

And what I would like to say also to witness you, but 

then[incoherent] I’ve met the Tajik minister, my counterpart. He 

was so supportive to this kind of OSCE activities. Now, talking 

about Kyrgyzstan, I must say that of course, the OSCE always gets 

a lot of critics. But you should agree that last year, the OSCE reacted quickly to interethnic tensions and violence in Kyrgyzstan. 

I think it’s—it shows what—if you want [laughter] you could do 

something. And of course, its response included the engagement of 

ODIHR and this police deployment observation team and I just 

look forward to the report of an independent international commission of inquiry chaired by Kimmo Kiljunen at President 

Otunbayeva. 

I think of first of all, if you want to remove the tensions, we 

should finish with this report, to look at this report and to start 

18

to the reconciliation of this interethnic conflict. I’m also going to 

visit Kyrgyzstan after Kazakhstan in Osh as well. But to say more, 

before my trip [laughter] I just—I would like just to keep silent—

we’ll see. After that, maybe I will get more expertise. 

Mr. SMITH. Mr. Az ̆ubalis, thank you so much for your testimony. 

And you know, the OSCE really is fortunate to have you at the 

helm. We’re very grateful for your time and for your leadership. 

The hearing is adjourned unless Alcee, you want to——

Mr. HASTINGS. I just wanted to say one thing. I would be terribly 

remiss if I did not ask you to use the immense resources of the Parliamentary Assembly with reference to our matters as well as 

ODIHR. [Laughter.] 

Amb. AZ ̆UBALIS. I just—Mr. Chairman, if you allowed me just to 

respond to Mr. Hastings. I just want to say that today, I talk by 

phone with president of Parliamentary Assembly, Petros Efthymiou 

and I did it numerous number of times before. That’s what I—I 

just—I’m convinced that political part of OSCE should be used, 

should be explored. 

And I told earlier—I think it was in the beginning of—end of 

January, I talked to Petros, that look, you will be requested and 

politicians from Parliamentary Assembly will be requested to 

every—our event. It’s up to you to be active or not [laughter]. 

Thank you. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 4:42 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

19

APPENDICES

PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, COCHAIR, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN 

EUROPE 

I am pleased to join my colleagues for this, the Helsinki Commission’s first hearing of the 112th Congress. Like Chairman Smith, 

I recall vividly my first visit to Lithuania 20 years ago this month. 

We arrived at a time of great promise and potential peril, with the 

outcome of the moves to reestablish the country’s independence far 

from guaranteed. Indeed, Soviet troops continued to occupy some 

key buildings in Vilnius. Most memorable was our visit to the radio 

and television tower, the scene of bloodshed just weeks before. The 

people of Lithuania have made tremendous strides in the years 

since, and I was pleased to visit your country in 2009 for the Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. 

Mr. Minister, as I think you know, during that visit one of the 

issues I discussed with the President, the Speaker, and the Foreign 

Minister was the need for Lithuania to enact laws to resolve longstanding claims regarding wrongfully confiscated property. Unfortunately, notwithstanding some movement on this issue last year, 

legislation has not yet been passed. I know that there are difficult 

political and economic factors, but these difficulties should not be 

an excuse for inaction—every effort must be made now to overcome 

them and ensure that just compensation legislation is passed, 

prompted action is essential. 

Minister, as you assume the chairmanship of the OSCE amid a 

full range of challenges, especially in the human dimension. Given 

the mandate of the Helsinki Commission, we are particularly focused on this aspect of the OSCE’s work. At the same time, it is 

important to recognize that many of the challenges we face are 

multidimensional in nature, issues such as trafficking in humans 

and combating corruption. In this regard, I would mention an initiative that deserves support, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. 

I echo Chairman Smith’s remarks regarding the important work 

of the OSCE in combating anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance. As you may be aware, the Helsinki Commission was the 

first to raise concerns over the spike of anti-Semitism and related 

violence in the OSCE region back in 2002. We continue to closely 

monitor this issue and urge you to so as well. 

Thank you, and I look forward to your remarks.

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