“Citizens in the United States, citizens in Lithuania and citizens across the free world should recognise that the security threats posed by China and Russia are real, therefore we have to combine forces to preserve the current world order,” former National Security Advisor to the President of the United States Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster said at the Baltic Military Conference he believed that Lithuania would lend a hand to Americans in ensuring the resilience of liberal democracy.
“We have to trust the resilience of democracy. I have faith that Lithuania and other Baltic states will help to ensure it because they know very well what it means because of their hard-won freedom. The threats coming from China and Russia can be mitigated if appropriate measures are applied against the regimes,” spoke Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, National Security Advisor to former President of the United States Donald Trump in 2017-2018. He underscored that the aggression of the regimes of the two countries and their offences demonstrated their weakness which would lead to their fall in the long-term. And until then, the West, primarily, the U.S, needed to restore their strategic competence and confidence around the globe.
The keynote speech of the former National Security Advisor to the U.S President opened one of the most important events held in Vilnius this year, the international conference arranged by the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania where high-ranking Lithuanian and foreign officers, diplomats and academic staff were focusing on the security challenges facing the Baltic region and the Western countries in the age of the great power rivalry, September 16–17.
Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster dedicated a considerable part of the debate to the situation in Afghanistan and touched upon other topical security and defence issues while also praising Lithuania for the efforts to strengthen its defence and the input in cybersecurity. According to the expert, the Baltic states were an example to the world in that area.
President of the Republic of Lithuania HE Gitanas Nausėda welcomed the conference participants on the second day of the event. He highlighted the quickly changing threats as the autocratic states were weaponizing trade or migration against democratic countries. President underscored the necessity to respond to the emerging threats immediately and stressed the importance of NATO as a collective defence organization.
Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius spoke on regional and global security issues at the conference. He underlined that Russia, the unpredictable Belarus and its spreading integration with Russia were the main threats in the Baltic Sea region; however, Lithuania could not turn a blind eye to the risks from China either.
“The region is beginning to face the risk from China. First and foremost, of cyber dependence and cyberattacks. The Chinese and Russian role of a security threat is becoming global instead of regional. The habit of both states to interfere with internal affairs of other countries, as well as cyberattacks, present a global threat,” said Vice Minister M. Abukevičius.
The conference themes covered three main areas. First, the aggressive expansive foreign policy of China and Russia, with Russia conducting the expansion by military means and hybrid tools, and the Chinese economy and growing aggression in the South China Sea revealing its ambition of becoming a global military power. The new Chinese foreign policy concept, “the wolf warrior diplomacy”, and potential response to such a threat were also discussed.
The second area concerned the changes within NATO, primarily, the new Strategic Concept, the NATO command structure review, and implementation of the NATO security and defence posture in Europe. The debate on this area particularly focussed on the military dimension and the Baltic region.
The third area encompassed cutting-edge technologies and their implications to military strategy. The new weapon systems, Artificial Intelligence, ultrasonic weapons, and many other rapidly developing technological novelties entail changes in battlefield, alter the notion of battle victory, and make it imperative for the Western countries to use their technological advancement in the military field.
The Conference pulled together such experts as Camille Grand, Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment at NATO, former Chief of Defence Estonia General Riho Terras, Jean-François Ripoche, Director for Research, Technology and Innovation (RTI) at the European Defence Agency (EDA), and many others.
Experts with the Defence Analysis Centre and other divisions of the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania initiated the already annual event to have a high-level forum with a weighty and meaningful impact on the Lithuanian defence policy planning.
Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster’s speech and answers to questions from the audience
