Saying that independence for the Baltic states from Russian domination is not yet complete, Lithuania’s most prominent political leader on Sunday called for the United States to support more forcefully his country’s entrance into NATO.
In Chicago to meet with Lithuanian-American leaders, Vytautas Landsbergis, symbol of the Baltic pro-democracy movement of the early 1990s and chairman of the Lithuanian parliament, said that recent expansionist rumblings by Russia made it crucial for his country to be admitted into NATO as a full member.
He further said that Lithuania’s inclusion–though not expected to occur imminently and which Russia has strongly opposed–would be a safety measure for Europe as Russia takes its halting steps toward democracy.
“The problem of security in Europe is a problem of small nations . . . Russia is the main problem,” Landsbergis said at a press conference held in the Seklycia Lithuanian-American center on the Southwest Side. “The United States is (the) best friend of (the) Baltics. It is a friend which does not fear Russia. Europeans are afraid.”
Landsbergis’ visit comes at a sensitive time in Russian-American relations. The topic of NATO expansion dominated the recent summit meeting in Helsinki, Finland, between President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Though Russia apparently conceded the inclusion of Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland in the first round of NATO expansion expected to occur this summer, it is working to deny membership for former republics of the Soviet Union.
“It is a question of face-saving,” said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who criticized the Clinton administration’s silence on the question of Baltic inclusion.
“I think it’s time for us to step forward and make it clear that NATO is going to mean a reunified Europe,” said Durbin, who is among a handful of congressmen who are pressing for a broader NATO expansion. “It is difficult to argue prudence when you’re talking about defending a country of fewer than 4 million people with no standing army.”
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), whose district includes a large population of Lithuanian-Americans, said at the press conference that he would do “everything in my power” to get the Clinton administration to support Lithuanian inclusion in NATO.
Lithuania in 1991 became the first republic to gain political independence from the Soviet Union, led by Landsbergis, the then-president who daringly barricaded himself in the parliament building as Soviet troops descended on the capital of Vilnius.
“The job of independence is not yet finished,” Landsbergis said, until Lithuania is able to enjoy the benefits of Western-style institutions such as NATO and the European Union.
“We want to hold this (security) umbrella by our own hand,” he said.
It is a shield sorely needed, he said, lamenting the “common mistake” of Western powers to ignore the expansionist tendencies of Russia.
“We can see it in the Russian parliament, led by extremists,” Landsbergis said.
He also noted recent events in the neighboring Belarus, where authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has cracked down hard on protests against a Russia-Belarus integration treaty he signed last week with Yeltsin.
“That is what we call `old thinking,” ‘ Landsbergis said of Russian attempts to re-establish control of former Soviet territories.
Landsbergis, a conservative whose party regained control of parliament in recent elections, is scheduled to meet this week with Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Though he did not concede that Lithuania’s bid to be included in the current round of expansion would fail, he said a proposed security agreement with the United States could serve as a temporary alternative until full NATO membership is granted.
