On October 19–20 the fourteenth annual French-Baltic Security Seminar was organized by the Ministry of National Defence in Vilnius. It focused on the most relevant security and defence policy aspects shared by the Baltic states and France: Ukraine’s European future, lessons learnt from the Russian aggression in Ukraine, and military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Participants also addressed the Southern European Security and Defence Dimension and operations in Africa, the EU Common Security and Defence Policy.
The event pulled together representatives of Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, MPs, diplomats and members of academia of France, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
“We have to continue developing the dialogue on security issues and to look for new, wide scope solutions so that we help out our friends in Ukraine. We have a shared goal to make Europe stronger and more resilient to the aggression and blackmail of Russia. We need to establish even stronger ties with our transatlantic partners and all like-minded countries across the globe. Only those who try out each other’s’ shoes can form strong relations and mutual understanding based on trust and respect,” Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas stressed in his opening remarks.
Minister also availed of the opportunity to thank France for the substantial contribution to the efforts to increase security in the Baltic Sea region. The French Armed Forces support deterrence in the region by contributing to the NATO eFP battalions in Estonia and Lithuania and to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic skies. “These decisions, as well as our mutual efforts with France in the international operation in the Sahel, brings our countries and militaries closer together. We deeply appreciate this defence cooperation and we intend to expand it even further shortly,” said A. Anušauskas.
Photo credit: MoD / K. Kavolėlis
