Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė attended the NATO Defence Ministerial in Brussels. The meeting was centred around the commitment to increase NATO defence spending and strengthening NATO ahead of the NATO Summit in the Hague. Ministers agreed on new capability targets which determines resources, force and abilities needed for the implementation of collective defence plans. Air defence, long-range weapons, logistics and large land manoeuvre formations were the main priorities identified.
“If we mean to hear out NATO’s intelligence, NATO Allies’ defence spending needs to go up to 5 percent of GDP by 2030 at the latest. Lithuania will do its part – next year our defence spending will grow from 4 to over 5 percent,” Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė said.
The North Atlantic Council session held within the Ministerial was attended by all 32 Allies. In the Nuclear Planning Group, the Allies discussed nuclear policy planning and progress made on strengthening NATO’s nuclear deterrence.
On the margins of the Defence Ministers meeting D. Šakalienė also met bilaterally with counterparts from France, Luxembourg and Portugal, as well as Head of Diplomacy of the EU Kaja Kallas.
She discussed cooperation with the Indo-Pacific, EU assistance to Ukraine, strengthening of the EU security and the SAFE instrument with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Meeting the Minister of Defence of Luxembourg, D. Šakalienė thanked for the active contribution to the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Lithuania and the troops deployed, and discussed potential Luxembourg’s financial aid to infrastructure projects important to Lithuania.
D. Šakalienė invited the Minister of Defence of France to join the implementation of the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model in Lithuania with ground-based air defence capabilities or ships equipped with air defence systems. Other topics discussed were development of defence industry and defence capability.
Minister D. Šakalienė also presented an invitation to Ambassador of the United States HE Matthew Whitaker to pay a visit to Lithuania. According to D. Šakalienė, “Lithuania values the strong and reliable partnership with the U.S. and the U.S. commitments to NATO’s collective defence, therefore the Ambassador is a very awaited guest in Lithuania.”
Two declarations of strategic importance were signed on the margins of the Ministerial: a Joint Declaration aimed at enhancing security in the Baltic Sea which lays out the countries’ commitment to a closer NATO-EU cooperation and conduct of a coordinated information exchange to strengthen security in the Baltic Sea and deter hostile activities in the region. NATO effort in Baltic Sae security will be expanded and measures to protect critical undersea infrastructure will be discussed in the run-up to the NATO Hague Summit.
The second was a Statement of Intent regarding the tracked infantry fighting vehicles CV90 which will be an organic part of the formed 1st Division of Lithuania. Lithuania is buying the equipment through a programme together with Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and the Netherlands. Joint multinational efforts are expected to accelerate the procurement, simplify the maintenance and create economic value via industrial cooperation.
Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė also attended the UK and German co-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group (Ramstein format) meeting where critical weaponry needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and assistance received was discussed with the Ukrainian delegation.
Photo: courtesy of NATO.int
