Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė made a distance address to participants of the “Navigating the New Era of NATO” discussion organized by the Ministry of National Defence in partnership with the Atlantic Council. In her address, Minister invited to urgently rally the effort to strengthen deterrence and defence by strengthening the transatlantic bonds, increasing defence spending and investing in defence industry. According to D. Šakalienė, those were not steps vital for security but also am opportunity to actively shape NATO response to modern challenges.
“The decision time is now, or Mr. Putin with Mr. Xi will decide. Today we have an opportunity to choose. Lithuania is not planning to let history repeat this time: the new reality dictates the need to spend at least 5 % of GDP for our defence. We hope the cooperation with defence industries of our Allies to grow facilitated by joint production initiatives,” said D. Šakalienė.
Minister also pointed out that the U.S. force presence in Europe, especially the Baltic states, is not just an effective deterrent for the region but also a practical solution for the United States – a persistent force presence does both, strengthens the regional security and supports U.S. force readiness.
D. Šakalienė highlighted in her speech the need to agree on a higher level of ambition in defence spending. Lithuania supports the proposed NATO-wide ambition of 5 % of GDP. According to her, such an agreement is needed already in practice so that the industry is able to invest and produce what is required to ensure NATO capabilities.
When discussing the Indo-Pacific Minister stressed that the global security threats had lost all geographical boundaries, therefore NATO needed to intensify cooperation with the democratic partners in the region even more. Lithuania was already on the path strengthening partnerships with the like-minded nations in such areas as education, cyber security, improving resilience and mobilization.
The fireside chat event in Washington brought together senior officials and security policy shapers to address the role of the Alliance in response to growing geopolitical threats. The event focussed significantly on strengthening the transatlantic security, U.S. commitments to Europe and the necessity for the Allies to take more responsibility for the European security.
