For the first time, the countries between the Baltic and the Black Seas have found a common voice, one that will help them to integrate into the West, even as they smooth their relations with one another and with Moscow. At a meeting in Vilnius on 5 and 6 September, the presidents of 10 countries in the region sharply criticized the retreat from democratic reforms in Belarus. They stressed they want to work with both Russia and the West. And they committed themselves to broader regional cooperation.

As a result, a summit originally convened to help overcome bilateral conflicts among those states was transformed into something much bigger. That development would appear to justify the claims of some of the leaders present that they will be guided by the "spirit of Vilnius" in the future.

The meeting, organized by the leaders of Poland and Lithuania, attracted the presidents of Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, as well as the prime minister of the Russian Federation. The outcome of the meeting was defined less by the individual positions that each of those leaders took than by the collective spirit they displayed on three key issues.

First, virtually all the presidents were sharply critical of the increasingly anti-democratic behavior of one of their numbers, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Their outspokenness violated the usual diplomatic niceties of such sessions and indicated that the countries of the region are at least prepared to take a hard line against those who retreat from democracy and a free market economy. It also largely dispelled the fears of those who had thought Lukashenka might be able to exploit the Vilnius summit to escape his regime's current isolation on the international scene.

Instead, the Vilnius meeting underlined Lukashenka's isolation from his own people, from neighboring states, and from both Moscow and the West. Not only did the leaders of the other countries speak out, but representatives of Belarusian society directly challenged Lukashenka's claims.

Second, the 10 presidents indicated they want to cooperate with both East and West rather than being forced to choose between one or the other. Part of the reasoning behind that position was clearly tactical. Several leaders said they are interested in improved relations with Russia in order to improve their standing with Western governments that have made good relations with Moscow a virtual requirement for inclusion in Western institutions.

But at the Vilnius meeting, there were also strategic considerations. The Baltic presidents, for example, did not react as sharply as they have in the past to Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin's latest elaboration of Russian suggestions that the three rely on Moscow rather than NATO. Each calmly reiterated the desire of his country to join the Western alliance, but each equally calmly said that his country did not want involvement with the West to preclude good relations with Moscow.

This approach led to a remarkable breakthrough. Following bilateral meetings with the Russian premier, each of the Baltic presidents was able to announce that he would soon be signing a border agreement with the Russian Federation, thus laying to rest a long-standing sore point in relations with Moscow.

Third, the 10 presidents asserted that they want to work together precisely so that they can take responsibility for themselves rather than waiting for one or the other outside power to decide their fate, as has happened so often in the past.

Two countries -- Poland and Ukraine -- offered to host a follow-up regional summit in 1999. And the representatives of several other presidents indicated they were interested in much closer consultations across the region.

In the past, efforts to promote such cooperation have foundered on tensions among those countries and on the fears in both Moscow and the West that such arrangements might become a barrier to the inclusion of Russia into European institutions. But precisely because the Vilnius summit was called to avoid setting up such a barrier, this latest drive toward cooperation among the countries of the region may be more successful than its predecessors before World War Two and in the early 1990s.

It has already attracted less opposition and more support from outside. Not only did Moscow not denounce it, but U.S. President Bill Clinton said it could play a useful role in "erasing the old dividing lines in Europe." To the extent that the countries of the region continue to act as they did in the Lithuanian capital, the "spirit of Vilnius" may prove a turning point not only for them but for Europe as a whole.

BELARUS TO SEEK SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH NATO. Lukashenka told the Vilnius summit on 5 September that his country will seek to negotiate an agreement with NATO similar to the ones the alliance has signed with Russia and Ukraine. He said NATO's planned expansion should not be allowed to create tension in the region and that he wants an agreement to ensure the safety of Belarus. Lukashenka accused Western governments and alliances of "double standards," saying they view integration with the West as positive but integration with the East as negative.

EU LEADERS URGE REFORMS IN UKRAINE... Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg and current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, said if Ukraine wants to get closer to the EU, the reforms that have taken place must continue and deepen. Juncker and European Commission President Jacques Santer headed a delegation that was in Ukraine for talks with President Leonid Kuchma and other officials. The EU leaders praised Ukraine for reducing inflation and stabilizing its currency but said the country must move ahead with further economic reforms. Juncker said after the summit that the EU has a positive view about the changes that have taken place in Ukraine since 1991. But he said there is still "much to be done."

...WHILE UKRAINE PROMISES REFORMS. Prime Minister Valery Pustovoitenko told journalists on 6 September that economic reforms will continue in Ukraine and that Kyiv hopes to further improve its economic performance. He made the comment after signing a tax agreement with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. The EU signed a partnership and cooperation agreement with Ukraine in 1994, replacing a trade treaty with the former Soviet Union. More than 17 percent of Ukraine's imports originate in the EU.