Mr President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The erecting of any EMBASSY BUILDING makes one think of connections, of bonds. Laying the foundation stone of the Estonian Embassy in Vilnius on the 20th of August 1997 makes one think of the calendar. Six years ago, the putsch in Moscow triggered the obliteration of an empire, and today Estonia marks an anniversary of the recapture of her independence. Hardly would we be using the same figures to write the date or even the year of liberation had Lithuania not found the strength for desperate resistance to brutal force back in January 1991. After such valiant self-sacrifice the world could no longer affect wisdom about the need to move on little by little, step by step.

Again the Estonian people felt deep respect for the Lithuanian people. Much the same way as we had appreciated the intensity of Lithuanian strivings in education and culture during the years of occupation or as we have furtively admired the maps of old Lithuanian history in a Vilnius museum - having drawn strength from it all. This feeling is one of the undercurrents in the relations between our countries, something the outer world might not be aware of or detect, even though the telescope used for exploring the Baltic countries is being supplanted by the magnifying glass.

And we hardly need to explain the differences between our countries to one another.

But perhaps we should recall that the history of the democratic republics of our peoples began with the first joint Baltic action. In 1919 the envoys of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to Washington together appealed to the United States for the recognition of the newly liberated republics. Another appeal to the whole world, symbolically meaning the same, was the Baltic Chain seventy years later. Whether at the beginning or at the end of the century, the mutual relations between the Baltic states have been notable for common interests.

And now, in the second half of the year 1997, after the crucial summits in Madrid and Amsterdam, for which we had worked so much, which we had looked to with so much hope as well as so much apprehension, this unity of interests is as present as ever.

True enough, the outcome is not the best possible one. Where we are now is still a far cry from the best possible world. But we have got past a milestone. And we have our guiding marks for the future.

When Estonia supported Lithuania in her aspirations to be the first of the Baltic states to gain access to NATO we thought it essential to break through the wall of geographical arguments, of geopolitical and hence imperial reasoning. In Madrid, NATO was still unprepared to enlarge to all democratic countries, and no Baltic state was considered ripe for membership. Yet the Madrid final declaration dismisses geopolitical arguments, and by naming us as candidates for enlargement gives us a realistic and common task.

The Avis of the EU Commission is also our common success in the sense that the use of not only the Soviet Union but also ''the former Soviet Union'' as political notions or arguments have been sent into the dustbin of history. It is definitely in Estonia's interests that all the three Baltic states be soon involved in the EU accession negotiations. The enlargement mechanism suggested by the Commission does create real possibilities for that, since the review process will make it feasible to proceed from the objective readiness of candidate countries.

The Estonian government regards the Commission's assessment as having her work cut out: all our weaknesses have been put down in it with merciless precision. The Lithuanian government, too, has concentrated all her efforts to enhance her readiness for integration. Estonia will continue to support the goals of Latvia and Lithuania throughout the period of negotiations. We think it very important that Brussels and member states are provided with current information about the situation in Lithuania. This is in our common interests, and if tackled together it will not be a neck-breaking task.

Laying the foundation stone of an embassy is a mere ceremonial event, as ceremonial and symbolic as is the first state visit of a head of state of a restored independent Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Lithuania. But this HOUSE here will last longer than WORDS. It will bring some of Estonia to Lithuania. It will have to bring some of Lithuania to Estonia. And it is situated in Europe. There is nothing to negotiate in this matter.

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