The quadrilateral meeting with Ministers of Defence Ruben Brekelmans (Kingdom of the Netherlands), Andris Sprūds (Latvia) and Hanno Pevkur (Estonia) addressed assistance to Ukraine, protection of the regional critical undersea infrastructure, priorities of the oncoming NATO Summit in The Hague and the EU agenda on defence.
Minister D. Šakalienė emphasized the importance of withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention on banning anti-personnel mines and need to agree on the new NATO‘s Russia policy based on the position of strength.
“As Lithuania has come near the verge of 4% of GDP defence spending and looks into the possibilities to increase the defence budget, we anticipate the minimum defence speeding to be set at 3% of GDP at the NATO Summit in The Hague this Summer, which, most importantly, will enable us to have standing ready defence capabilities and together tackle the particularly sensitive issue of air defence in the northeastern flank,” noted Minister.
At the bilateral meeting with Dutch Minister of Defence D. Šakalienė addressed regional security and air defence expressing expectations that the Patriot air defence system will be deployed in Lithuania again this year just like it was done last year for training.
Approx. 300 Dutch troops are currently deployed in Lithuania in the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Rukla, the Netherlands will soon form an integral part of the German Brigade currently in the process of stationing in LIthuania.
Speaking at the panel on “The politics of the Baltic Defence Line and NATO‘s defence posture” D. Šakalienė presented Lithuania’s plans for defensive capability enhancement, underscored the necessity to strengthen Ukraine’s position for negotiations with common efforts in support of Ukraine’s defence industry and expeditious supply of aid in weaponry, as well as noted the importance of united regional border defence principles and strong strategic messaging to the enemy.
Lithuania will provide at least 0.25% of GDP worth of military aid to Ukraine in 2025. Minister D. Šakalienė emphasizes that every Euro invested in Ukraine increases the security of Europe. Four major directions of support to Ukraine have been defined this year: urgent weaponry requirements, assistance to Ukraine’s defence industry through support to its production, the Demining Capability Coalition, and international initiatives.
