Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania
The OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Rogelio Pfirter, paid an official visit to Vilnius, Lithuania from 1 to 3 October 2008 where he met with the President of the Republic of Lithuania, H.E. Mr Valdas Adamkus.
In their discussion, President Adamkus expressed Lithuania’s strong support for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and for the work of the OPCW. The President also raised with Director-General Pfirter the question of sea-dumped chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea. While noting that this matter falls outside the scope of the CWC, President Adamkus highlighted its high importance for Lithuania and expressed hope that the OPCW could play a significant role in helping to address it.
For his part the Director-General thanked President Adamkus for Lithuania’s strong support to the CWC and OPCW. Furthermore, in the light of Lithuania’s great interest concerning the chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea, the Director-General, while agreeing with President Adamkus on the fact that the CWC does not address the matter, encouraged Lithuania to pursue its dialogue with other interested countries on the different aspects involved.
During his visit to Vilnius, Director-General Pfirter also met with Mr Alfredas Pekeliūnas, Deputy Chairman of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seismas); with Mr Jaroslav Neverovič, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, with Mr Vytautas Naudužas, Vice-Minister of Economy; and with other high-ranking officials. All these authorities reaffirmed their country’s views concerning sea-dumped chemical weapons.
The Director-General was additionally appraised on the outcomes of an international seminar on sea-dumped chemical weapons, “Perspectives of International Cooperation”, which was held in Vilnius on 30 September and 1 October. The seminar attracted representatives and experts from 27 States in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America, as well as from the United Nations, European Union, Helsinki Commission, research institutions, NGOs and the private sector.
While in Lithuania, the Director-General also addressed a meeting of the CWC Nordic-Baltic National Authorities and delivered a lecture at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University.