On May 13 the third Lithuanian-Polish Defence Council took place at the Ministry of National Defence. Ministers Arvydas Anušauskas and Mariusz Blaszczak discussed progress on five priority areas of cooperation: defence planning, air defence, maritime situational awareness, acquisitions and cybersecurity. Other topics of the Council were regional security and assistance to Ukraine.
Since Russia has started the war against Ukraine, Lithuania’s and Poland’s mutual support to each other and coordinated readiness for deterrence and defence are crucial. We see Russia as a long-term threat to the West. We need to work together, both bilaterally and in NATO and EU formats, to adopt the necessary response to the Russian threat. We must join forces to achieve common goals,
said A. Anušauskas.
A. Anušauskas and M. Blaszczak agreed to stand united in holding the Russian leadership accountable for the invasion of Ukraine. They discussed NATO and EU agendas and military mobility, also, the forth-coming NATO Summit in Madrid and the necessity to build up the defence of the eastern flank of NATO with real combat capabilities on the basis of the concept of forward defence.
“As regional neighbors bordering Russia, we also share a goal to start a new phase of NATO adaptation. We expect NATO decisions on strengthening the defence of Alliance’s Eastern flank in the upcoming NATO Summit, including increase in the NATO enhanced Forward Presence to brigade level, and ensurement of reliable air and missile defence in the Baltic states,” said A. Anušauskas.
Ministers of National Defence set out the guidelines for further cooperation – it has been agreed to cooperate more closely on cyber security by forming a work group. Ministers also underscored the importance of the U.S. military presence in the region. The y also agreed to further work closely together on support to Ukraine, including by using the existing instruments of bilateral cooperation.
“We highly appreciate the leadership and efforts of Poland in coordination of the assistance to Ukraine. We aim to work with Poland in rendering every kind of support and we continue assessing the ways to strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We are looking to hand over additional Lithuanian-made anti-drone and thermo-visual equipment,” said A. Anušauskas.
Minister also welcomed Finland’s and Sweden’s decision to become members of NATO.
The Lithuanian-Polish Defence Council has been formed since 2020 to implement the Joint Declaration of the Polish and Lithuanian Presidents on Security Partnership, the document was announced on 21 February 2019. It lays out the agreement to join forces in working towards cornerstone goals in regional defence on bilateral, NATO and EU basis.
More photos (credit: MoD/A. Pliadis)
