Influential German politicians from the Christian Democratic and the Green parties are taking part in the international conference “Lithuania and Germany: Creating the Future of Europe Together” held in Vilnius.
Bilateral cooperation between Lithuania and Germany as well as efforts to strengthen the unity and security of the European Union were discussed during the meeting.
According to the President, it is highly important that Germany maintains its position of strong leader in Europe when dealing with relevant issues of the Union and ensuring security of the Old Continent in the context of global geopolitical tensions.
The President highlighted that Lithuania highly valued Germany’s decision to lead NATO’s enhanced forward presence battalion in Lithuania. According to the President, it firmly demonstrates unity and solidarity of the Alliance. Four multinational battlegroups located in the Baltic States and Poland help ensure deterrence and defense of the whole region.
Having assumed the leadership of NATO’s enhanced forward presence battalion in Lithuania, German troops have equally successfully consolidated the allied forces and effectively contribute to boosting their military readiness.
After the illegal seizure of Ukrainian vessels and imprisonment of their crews in the Kerch Strait and with Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, it is obvious that the Kremlin is not going to abandon its post-imperialistic ambitions. This kind of geopolitical reality requires NATO’s enhanced presence on the entire eastern flank to help ensure air defense and rapid deployment of military support.
Stepping up the response to cyber threats was also discussed at the meeting. According to the President, cyber attacks, hostile propaganda and geopolitical energy projects pose a great threat to Western democratic societies and without a proper response can severely damage European security.
Lithuania leads the formation of the EU rapid cyber response force in the format of closer cooperation in security in the EU (PESCO). Germany is an observer in this project.
