On Friday, before the signing of the US - Baltic Charter, the Estonian Head of State Lennart Meri and his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts met the US President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office of the White House. At noon on Friday the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright hosted a lunch in honour of the three Baltic Presidents.
The top-level US officials asserted that the Charter was a turning point in the Baltic-US relations. Both Albright and Clinton as well as US Vice President Al Gore called the 16th of January a historic day. The Charter affirms the important role of the Baltic countries in the American vision of a future Europe. According to Albright, it was already stated in Madrid that the door to NATO would remain open, and now it is a task of the United States to create the conditions under which it will really be possible to walk through that door.
At both meetings serious attention was given to the accession of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to the World Trade Organization, and the US officials affirmed they were aware of its importance. Clinton admitted that there still were differences of opinion between the European Union and the United States over provision of services, but added that he had commissioned the chief US negotiator with the WTO, Charlene Barshevsky, to settle that controversy quickly, before the end of this year.
Besides bilateral issues the need to support reform processes in Ukraine was discussed at the meetings. Vice President Gore, who heads the governmental commission on Ukraine, suggested he would consider with the commission how the Estonian reform experience could be put to better use in Ukraine. Discussions also touched upon developments in Belarus. Speaking of relations with Russia, President Clinton stated he saw some progress in the attitude towards the Baltic nations, adding that the US would continue to support positive developments and the prevention of possible negative moves.
Albright promised that as long as she was in the capacity of Secretary of State the great powers would never again talk over the heads of the Baltic states. She added that in her work she had derived the greatest pleasure from the activities of the US in Europe and from the progress made there in the shaping of a new security structure.
President Clinton affirmed that the United States ''remains sensitive to the Baltic nations' aspirations''. The Charter demonstrates this dedication, and the United States wishes to build on it. The United States highly appreciates the success of the Baltic states in developing relations with their neighbours, be it within the BaltBat project, with the Nordic countries, or with Russia.

back | archive of press releases | main page