Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė is departing for The Hague to attend the NATO Summit and sidelines events on June 23 through 25 in the delegation of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. This year the Summit will be particularly focused on collective defence and deterrence and centered around the Allied commitment to step up defence spending to 5 percent of GDP. Other themes on the agenda are defence industry and strengthening it, assistance to Ukraine, and other relevant security and defence topics.
Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė will take part in the North Atlantic Council Working Dinner in Defence Ministers’ session at the invitation of Minister of Defence of the Netherlands Ruben Brekelmans. The event will facilitate a deeper political dialogue and strengthened security and defence cooperation. She is also expected to appear in the reception for Defence and Foreign Ministers and have bilateral talks with NATO counterparts.
D. Šakalienė will join the Netherlands’ Ruben in the NATO Matters support campaign arranged to underline the significance of NATO and the Hague Summit. She is also expected to deliver keynote address at the dinner event organized by the Geopolitics and Security Studies Center and partners.
Minister D. Šakalienė will also attend a moderated panel on Strengthening NATO-Industry and the Transatlantic cooperation. Current needs and actions by NATO, Allies and Industry at the closed plenary session on the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, one of the key events during the Summit week set to bring NATO leaders and defence industry representatives to discuss the transatlantic cooperation and strengthening possibilities.
Aside from the political event, the Hague Summit will encompass practical cooperation steps, such as signature of a cooperation agreement on production of medium-range calibre ammunition in Lithuania between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of National Defence, U.S. defence technology manufacturer Northrop Grumman and Norway’s ammunition manufacturer NAMMO .
