“Currently it is vital for the Baltic states to strengthen psychological resilience of the society and to foster the willingness to engage in national defence,” Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas said in an interview with the Latvian defence news website Sargs.lv.
Minister of National Defence told the Latvian media about the National Security Strategy revision he led. A. Anušauskas stressed that security of the Baltic countries depended not only on military capabilities but also on the capacity of civic resistance – and public resilience needed a particular boost in this period of time.
“The Baltic states are facing an enormous amount of disinformation and fake news over the pandemic, therefore all three of them have to also promote critical thinking – so that the society is resilient to such threats,” said Minister A. Anušauskas and added that it was also important to strengthen public trust in the governmental institutions for this purpose.
An interinstitutional working group has been formed this year for the purpose of revising the National Security Strategy, it was approved by a Prime Minister’s Ingrida Šimonytė decree in March. The review has been laid out in the Governmental program as required for a qualitatively new approach to national security. The program states that the revised National Security Strategy will serve as a cornerstone document that integrates security policies from different areas into a unified approach.
The Ministry of National Defence plans organizing expert roundtables and public consultations with the academic and analytical institutions in the process of the revising the document. The draft is planned to be ready until 30 June 2021.
The National Security Strategy is adopted by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
Photo credits: Ministry of Defence of Latvia
