Vice Minister of National Defence Karolis Aleksa took part in the EU Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) focussed on strengthening defence readiness of EU member states and ensuring military aid to Ukraine.
The first part of the meeting was dedicated to the possibilities of contributing to security guarantees for Ukraine, military aid and a closer cooperation between the EU and Ukraine on defence industry, as well as the need to integrate Ukraine’s defence industry with the EU defence industry. Vice Minister underscored the necessity to retain the urgency and supply of military aid to Ukraine and to maintain the EU engagement in the post-ceasefire period.
“Russia is a lasting threat, therefore we need to strengthen our defence readiness, as well as to keep providing the urgent military aid to Ukraine in its ongoing defence of European security. We have to transfer to Ukraine what it requires, especially artillery ammunition, air defence systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, at our earliest opportunity. And we need to make available to Ukraine the tools of the EU defence industry. Lithuania has already committed EUR 20 million for Ukraine’s defence industry and we are thinking about more,” said Vice Minister K. Aleksa.
In the second part of the meeting the Ministers discussed the EU defence readiness and the need to urgently increase defence spending highlighting the necessity to ensure compatibility with NATO objectives and deliver on the Alliance’s capability targets while strengthening the EU capabilities.
K. Aleksa underscored that the ceiling of defence spending had to exceed 3% of GDP if we were to fill in the defence planning gaps. Lithuania the EU effort to coordinate the EU-level implementation of joint capability projects. Jointly with Latvia, Estonia and Poland, Lithuania is developing the Baltic Defence Line and the East Shield projects. The developed countermobility measures are being built to effectively prevent enemy advance over the border from Russia and Belarus.
