The President of Lithuania received the North Atlantic Council in Vilnius
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite met with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alexander Vershbow and members of the North Atlantic Council in Vilnius. Discussions during the meeting focused on security challenges to the Baltics and Europe, the increasing terrorism threat as well as preparations for the upcoming NATO Summit in Warsaw this July.
The President and the North Atlantic Council members strictly condemned the recent brutal terror attacks in Brussels. In the opinion of President Grybauskaite, terrorism nowadays is one of the biggest threats, knowing no boundaries. A cruel and unjustifiable war is being conducted agains all people of Europe. That is why the response to terrorism must be strict, employing all possible means.
The meeting focused on the preparations for the NATO Summit, which will be held this July in Warsaw, Poland. It is expected that this summer Allied leaders will adopt new collective defence and deterrence measures.
"The threats to NATO security are clearly visible in the Baltic states. In the neighbourhood of the Alliance Russia continues to demonstrate its military strength and unpredictable behaviour. Military forces of high readiness are concentrated dlong our borders and in the Baltic Sea. The Alliance must therefore always be strong, be well prepared to react adequately and operatively to any threat", said the President.
In Warsaw Lithuania will aim for the deployment of an Allied batallion in each of the Baltic States and that a brigade-sized military equipment unit is predeployed in the region. Other goals of Lithuania: ballistic missile defence and air defence measures which would prevent a possible military isolation of the Baltic States as well as defence plans that would be updated according to realistic threat scenarios. Finally, Lithuania will also seek to speed up the decision-making process in the Alliance.
In the words of the President, NATO is strong if its members are strong. That is why we ourselves must also care for our defence. Lithuania has already made decisions on the return of conscription, has formed national high-readiness forces, is consistently increasing defence expenditures and modernizing its military equipment and the armed forces.
Information of the Press Office of the Chancery of the President
