Minister congratulated Ambassador upon the appointment and expressed condolences to the victims of the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria. A Lithuanian search and rescue team has recently came back from Türkiye, Lithuanian businesses and organisations are contributing to the assistance efforts.
A. Anušauskas discussed with G. B. Tantekin the security situation in the region, preparations for the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius and the need to continue military assistance to Ukraine. Minister underscored at the meeting that Russia posed the biggest threat to the Alliance at the moment but Lithuania understood well the threats from the south and therefore contributed troops to multinational operations that addressed those threats.
When speaking about strengthening NATO defence, A. Anušauskas pointed out the aspiration of Sweden and Finland to become members of the Alliance. “One of the most essential priorities of the upcoming NATO Summit in Vilnius is Forward Defence that has to become the foundation of the NATO defence posture and planning. The Swedish and Finnish NATO membership will strengthen NATO security and collective Allied defence even more.”
