Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today is an historic day in the history of our four nations. With the signing of the ''Charter of Partnership Among the United States of America and the Republic of Estonia, Republic of Latvia and Republic of Lithuania,'' we enter a new phase of even closer U.S. - Baltic relations.

Seventy-five years ago last summer, the U.S. and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania entered into diplomatic relations, thus launching a special relationship based in mutual respect and trust.

There is an old saying that one recognizes a true friend in times of need. With its bipartisan support for non-recognition policy, America was a true friend of the Baltics in a time of need, acting as a beacon of hope throughout the long, dark and cold years of the Soviet occupation. You, Mr. President, were a true friend when, four years ago, you personally contributed to making sure that occupation would end and the foreign troops would be withdrawn.

This principled behavior is one quality of US foreign policy that we greatly admire. The fact that morals play a major role in American foreign policy is what defines the U.S. as the world's remaining superpower.

Estonia sees the U.S. - Baltic Charter as the latest expression of that principled approach. The Charter recognizes the Baltic states' role in the American strategy to guarantee security and stability on the European continent and spells out that the United States has a ''real, profound and enduring interest'' in the security and sovereignty of the Baltic states

An important element in our security strategy is eventual full membership in NATO. We believe that NATO continues to be the sole guarantor of security and stability in Europe. Estonia applauds President Clinton for his leadership in starting the process of NATO enlargement, which has already re-defined the terms of security policy in Europe.

Estonia also understands that NATO enlargement to the Baltics will be the next big project for the Alliance. We believe that the question of Baltic membership in NATO will become the real test of post-Madrid security thinking, e.g., that countries shall be able to choose their security arrangements, regardless of geography. We are confident that with American leadership, this test will be met with success.

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