Lithuania matures
Lithuanians spent the early spring in “bouts of joy and determination,” celebrating membership in NATO while preparing to impeach their president, U.S. Ambassador Stephen D. Mull observed from Vilnius.
“That Lithuanian democracy carried the day and carried the nation through this ordeal is testament to Lithuania’s maturity,” he wrote in the latest edition of the newsletter of the Joint Baltic American National Committee.
“Democracy has taken root in Lithuania and the economy has blossomed. … Lithuania has become a land of freedom, opportunity and the rule of law.”
Mr. Mull also praised the former Soviet-occupied nation as a “firm” ally of the United States, supporting the liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan and working to prevent terrorism within its borders.
“They repeatedly proved themselves in every field as one of America’s most reliable and stalwart friends,” he said. “We are lucky to have them as an ally.
He noted that as Lithuania’s flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Parliament was preparing to impeach President Rolandas Paksas. He was accused of having ties to Russian mobsters and removed from office.
Swedish optimist
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson is the kind of man President Bush likes.
“The prime minister has got a clear vision about freedom and opportunity, and he’s an optimistic person,” Mr. Bush told reporters last week after talks with the Swedish leader at the White House.
Mr. Persson said the two had discussed Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, the Middle East and U.S.-European relations.
“We can discuss them because we are both democrats, and we are strongly in favor of freedom and building democratic institutions,” he said when asked how a socialist prime minister and a conservative Republican president could get along.
Diplomatic traffic
Foreign visitors in Washington this week include:
Today
• Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore, who meets President Bush on Wednesday. He also meets this week with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.
• Marcello Pera, president of the Italian Senate, who attends the Anti-Defamation League’s National Leadership Conference.
• Guatemalan President Oscar Berger, who meets administration officials. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Jorge Briz, Economy Minister Marcio Cuevas and Finance Minister Maria Antonieta Bonilla.
• Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe Echavarria; Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez; Luiz Fernando Furlan, minister of development, industry and commerce of Brazil; Miguel Angel Rodriguez, former president of Costa Rica; and Alfonso Prat Gay, president of the Central Bank of Argentina. They attend the 34th annual Washington Conference of the Council of the Americas at the State Department.
• Icelandic Justice Minister Bjorn Bjarnason.
• Marcus Agulnis, former secretary of culture of Argentina, who attends the opening of an exhibition of the National Gallery of Art’s Batuz-Milosz Portfolio at the Organization of American States.
• Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist. She addresses the World Bank.
• Ifzal Ali, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank, who holds a briefing with the World Affairs Council at noon in room SC-6 at the Capitol.
Tomorrow
• Greek Deputy Defense Minister Vassilis Mihaloliakos, who meets Defense Department officials.
Wednesday
• Greek Public Order Minister George Voulgarakis, who meets Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and CIA Director George J. Tenet.
• Call Embassy Row at 202/636-3297, fax 202/832-7278 or e-mail jmorrison @washingtontimes.com.
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