Vilnius Conference 2006: Common Vision for Common Neighborhood brought together delegations from the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...

and

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

regions to discuss common interests and reinforce their commitments to the advancement of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

and common values in their respective regions. The Conference took place in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

, the capital of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, and was hosted by the

President of Lithuania The President of the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublikos Prezidentas) is the head of state of Lithuania. The officeholder has been Gitanas Nausėda since 12 July 2019. Powers The president has somewhat more executive authority tha ...

, Valdas Adamkus.

Proceedings

Vilnius Conference 2006 included Youth, Non-government organizations, and Intellectuals forums. The Conference was opened by a Youth forum on May 1, 2006. Forum participants discussed cooperation in the Euro-Atlantic areas, the New Democracies success stories, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

's role in spreading the values of democracy, and other issues. Advancement of democracy in Europe’s east regions, European values and other topics were discussed in the Intellectual's forum. Spread of democracy and its benefits dominated the Non-government organizations forum.

Andrei Illarionov Andrey Nikolayevich Illarionov (russian: Андре́й Никола́евич Илларио́нов, born 16 September 1961) is a Russian economist and former senior policy advisor to Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, from April 2000 ...

, the former adviser to the President of the Russian Federation, delivered a speech dealing with the current situation in Russia. The final phase of the Vilnius Conference 2006 was the Heads of State Summit attended by the Presidents of

, Georgia,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, and

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The European Union was represented by Javier Solana. One of the Belarusian opposition leaders,

Alaksandar Milinkievič Alaksandar Uladzimyeravič Milinkyevič ( be, Аляксандар Уладзімеравіч Мілінкевіч, translit=Alyaksandar Uladzimyeravich Milinkyevich, russian: Александр Владимирович Милинкевич, trans ...

, was also invited to participate in the Vilnius Conference, but he was arrested in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

prior to the Conference. During the Heads of State Summit, the Vice-president of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He is currently the oldest living former U ...

, delivered one of the strongest statements concerning

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following a narrow victory over Democratic in ...

's position in regards to the current political situation in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Cheney accused the

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

government of taking measures that were anti-Democratic, and bullying his neighbors on energy.The New York Times. ''Bush to discuss Kremlin Moves with Putin''. 2006
/ref> Cheney praised Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia for making rapid progress towards democracy. The Head of States discussed the situation in Belarus. Participants of the Conference passed a common declaration as well. The Vilnius Conference 2006 ended on May 4, 2006.

Heads of State participating in the conference

*President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus *President of Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

*President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko *President of Estonia Arnold Rüütel *President of Latvia

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (born 1 December 1937) is a Latvian politician who served as the sixth President of Latvia from 1999 to 2007. She is the first woman to hold the post. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected for the seco ...

*President of Poland Lech Kaczyński *President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin *President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov *President of Romania

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Vilnius Conference 2006 web site

* ttp://www.president.lt/en/ President of the Republic of Lithuania 2006 conferences 2006 in Lithuania Diplomatic conferences in Lithuania 21st-century diplomatic conferences 2006 in international relations 21st century in Vilnius