At the meeting, Gitanas Nausėda pointed out that the security situation in the Baltic region is a matter of concern and Lithuania takes it seriously. As Russia continues its militarization of Kaliningrad and with the deployment of its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, it is necessary to strengthen deterrence and forward defense, as well as to increase the number of allied forces in the Baltics. Gitanas Nausėda underlined that the focus of the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July should be on deterrence and defense. He stressed the need to adopt new NATO defense plans ahead of the Vilnius Summit and to be ready to fully implement them by the end of year.
“The future of cooperation between Ukraine and NATO will be an important subject of the NATO Summit in Vilnius. In response to Ukraine’s aspiration to become a member of NATO, it is important to develop political ties between Ukraine and NATO. Ukraine belongs to the transatlantic security architecture. A clear signal is much needed for Ukrainians who sacrifice their lives on the battlefield. Germany’s role and support on this issue is crucial,” the Head of State spoke.
Gitanas Nausėda and the President of the German Bundestag also discussed bilateral cooperation between Lithuania and Germany. President Gitanas Nausėda thanked Germany for its significant contribution to the security of Lithuania and the entire Baltic region, and stressed that Lithuania is investing heavily in the expansion and improvements of the country’s military infrastructure in order to create the best possible conditions for the allies to train and be permanently stationed on the territory of Lithuania.
