During the discussion organized by the Atlantic Council, the President of Lithuania stressed that in the context of Russia’s war in Ukraine, NATO should place special focus on ensuring the security of the Baltic States. According to Gitanas Nausėda, Lithuania is squeezed between the militarized Kaliningrad region and Belarus, which can already be called a military province of Russia, and therefore the issue of our national defense, including air defense, is of particular importance.
“The time for deterrence policy is over – we need to move to forward defense. In the current situation, NATO must take further decisive action to strengthen the security of its eastern flank: to ensure an adequate presence of forces and, most importantly, air and missile defense in the Baltic countries. This is necessary for our people to feel safe,” the President said.
The Lithuanian leader also spoke about the need to increase allied forces in Lithuania and the other Baltic States in order to better protect the NATO area on both sides of the Suwałki Corridor. The President emphasized that the permanent deployment of NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group in Lithuania was an important security guarantee and it had to be increased, but equally important was the strengthening of the U.S. forces in the country.
Gitanas Nausėda also underlined that sanctions against Russia had to be tightened as Putin continued the war in Ukraine. The President stressed that he urged EU partners to stop buying Russian gas and oil because the Kremlin was funding its brutal crimes in Ukraine from this source of income.
In the current security situation, the President of Lithuania said, cooperation between NATO and the EU is important, as is the strengthening of transatlantic ties. According to Gitanas Nausėda, this is an opportunity to take transatlantic cooperation to a new level and to expand it considerably – from security to economy and energy.
The discussion between the Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia also addressed support for and humanitarian aid to Ukraine as well as the consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine for the region and for Europe as a whole. The discussion was held on the 18th anniversary of the Baltic States’ accession to NATO.
