Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on and the former chairman of the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, will be the 2007 Democracy Award winner during the 7th Baltic Conference scheduled Feb. 9-10 in Washington, D.C.

The conference, hosted by the Joint Baltic American National Committee, this year examines the topic “Oil and Blood: Baltic Energy and the Legacy of Communism.”

Lugar, whose interests include energy security, will speak Feb. 10 during a lunch program. He also spoke during November’s NATO defense alliance summit in Rīga, Latvia.

The conference begins Feb. 9 with a briefing by four officials from the U.S. State Department, National Security Council and Department of Defense. Also that day are a showcase of Baltic documentary films, including the work of Latvian director Dzintra Geka, followed by a reception in the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.

Panels scheduled Feb. 10 are focused on energy security, energy alternatives, Russian-Baltic relations and remembrance of the victims of communism. Speakers are to include experts from the Hudson Institute, Heritage Foundation, Holocaust Museum, Jamestown Foundation, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the European Commission and the three Baltic countries. Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus is to make a keynote address in the morning on the energy situation in the Baltics.

Also present at the conference will be filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov, a friend of the late Russian dissident and former spy Alexander Litvinenko, who was murdered last year by radiation poisoning.

Further information about the conference is available by visiting www.jbanc.org.

The JBANC conference is followed by the American Baltic Celebration awards dinner and silent auction scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave. S.W. Adamkus is to be honored during the event sponsored by the U.S. Baltic Foundation. Leaders from the U.S. administration, Congress and media will be among the 800 invited guests at the gala.

Further information about the celebration is available by visiting www.usbaltic.org.

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus is to be honored during the American Baltic Celebration awards dinner and silent auction scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave. S.W, Washington, D.C. Richard Wolffe, senior White House correspondent for Newsweek, will serve as master of ceremonies. Leaders from the U.S. administration, Congress and media will be among the 800 invited guests at the gala.