Special focus was placed on lessons learned from Zapad 2017, preparations for the upcoming NATO summit, NATO's defense reform, allied military mobility, and how NATO could benefit from the EU's Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO).
The President stressed that Russia's offensive military exercise Zapad 2017, conducted this past autumn to test aggressive scenarios against the West, demonstrated that Russia could mobilize a great number of troops within a very short span of time, exploit highly advanced military and hybrid technologies, and wage a large-scale war against NATO.
According to the President, the current situation poses a threat to regional and all-European security. Finland and Sweden are not NATO members, but their role in safeguarding security around the Baltic Sea is essential.
The President thanked the Nordic countries for their active contribution to Lithuania's, Latvia's and Estonia's defense. Norway and Iceland have joined NATO's enhanced forward presence in Lithuania, and the Danish Army is deployed in a multinational battalion in Estonia. Danish fighter jets have repeatedly served in NATO's air policing mission in the Baltic states.
Effective cooperation ties are maintained with other countries as well. Joint exercises are conducted with Swedish and Finnish armed forces. Lithuania is a participating country to the Helsinki-based Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. Finland has joined the Lithuania-led PESCO project to create cyber rapid response teams.
The President also emphasized that the Ostrovets nuclear power plant, currently built by Russia in Belarus, was unsafe, posed a threat to the whole of the region and could be used as a non-conventional tool.
