On October 7, National Defence Day, Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas underscores the necessity of constant improvement and ability to adapt in a dynamic and shifting security environment. According to Minister, the need to balance out our response to the military and non-military threats shapes the priorities of national defence system development in the nearest future.
“The events in the recent years – the pandemic, the illegal migration crisis – is putting to the test the abilities of state authorities and the resilience of the society. This context challenges the National Defence System and the Armed Forces too. We are rendering every kind of support to other institutions to help them respond to the challenges, however, the external threats still are as they were and we need to remain vigilant and ready to respond to them,” says A. Anušauskas.
Minister asserts that development of the Armed Forces will remain in the centre of attention of the National Defence System, with a priority on the Land Force capability development, recruitment, and building infrastructure for national and allied forces, next year. Intense work in NATO and cooperation with our allies will also continue seeking to secure presence of the allies, particularly the U.S., in the region and enhancement of collective defence measures.
Minister A. Anušauskas names state and public resilience as one of the most consequential priorities in National Defence System activities.
“We need to turn back to the society more. This is where the frontline is amidst the continuous flow of disinformation and propaganda, unsafe technologies filtering in, and intensifying hybrid and cyber-attacks,” he says.
Minister A. Anušauskas says he sees the Ministry of National Defence as one of the key institutions in consolidation of the principle of universal defence.
“We have documents in progress – the National Security Strategy, Strategy of Civil Resistance Training for the Society, and the National Defence Plan – which will aggregate a totality of regulations consolidating the readiness of the military, the entire state and its citizens, to stand up to armed aggression and non-military threats,” states Minister A. Anušauskas.
According to Minister, our values have the ways needed to achieve more engagement of the society in their DNA.
“The values that identify the citizens with the state and their confidence in the state are the ones that drive the choice to defend it. We, therefore, have to work even more to cultivate the civil spirit and patriotic feelings, to cherish historical memory , and to find yet more ways to speak to every citizen of Lithuania,” states A. Anušauskas.
National Defence System Development priorities are laid out in the Minister of National Defence Activity Guidelines 2021-2024.
