Fifteen years after the Baltic States signed the Charter of Partnership with the United States; the Presidents of the Baltics visited the White House and discussed evolving challenges with President Barack Obama.
Fifteen years after the Baltic States signed the Charter of Partnership with the United States; the Presidents of the Baltics visited the White House and discussed evolving challenges with President Barack Obama.
The meeting, which took place on 30 August 2013, focused on economic cooperation, defence and energy as well as cyber security, was greeted by President Dalia Grybauskaitė, who argued that the US and Lithuania reassured each other about their commitment to the bilateral partnership and stated that the US was reshaping its policy towards the Nordic and Baltic states.
Kęstutis Girnius, a political scientist at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, noted that the latter President’s statement might have been too enthusiastic.
“The US has its policy towards our region – that policy is not new and remains very stable. Moreover, most of our neighbours belong to the European Union, which is used by the Americans to coordinate its relations with smaller countries, including the Baltics. Therefore, the state is unlikely to alter its bilateral relations with the Baltics as the broader region of the Baltic Sea itself is very stable geopolitically,” argued Girnius.
Algis Krupavičius, a political scientist at Kaunas University of Technology, agreed with his colleague arguing that the key for the evaluation of the meeting is the joint statement issued by the four presidents.
“Although the statement emphasised the need of multinational cooperation on certain issues, it can be regarded as a sign of geopolitical continuity rather than a new political agenda. Therefore, the Presidents arguments, which tended to exaggerate the importance of the visit, might be connected with the upcoming presidential elections and should not be regarded as an adequate evaluation of the meeting,” said Krupavičius.
The scholars agreed that the factor, which overshadowed the issues raised by the Baltic leaders, was the Syrian crisis – the international media’s interest in the US response to the chemical attack near Damascus was notably greater. Despite that, according to the researchers, the meeting had been important symbolically – it had showed that the US values the Baltic States, which are considered to be true NATO members and not a buffer zone.
