We started a dialogue with President Andrzej Duda to conduct military exercises in Lithuania, together with the Polish Armed Forces. The drills would include the defense of the Suwałki Gap, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said during his annual State of the Union address to the Lithuanian Parliament on Tuesday.
The main topics of the Lithuanian head of state’s address were the situation in the region and the need to strengthen the country’s security.
For the 4th time in my term, I delivered the State of the Nation Address in the Lithuanian Parliament.
I reviewed 🇱🇹 policy &standing on most pressing issues of today. pic.twitter.com/wgvd313OrQ
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) June 20, 2023
“The excellent relations between Lithuania and Poland are materializing in new areas,” Nausėda pointed out before speaking about the military exercises plans with Poland.
For the 4th time in my term, I delivered the State of the Nation Address in the Lithuanian Parliament.
I reviewed 🇱🇹 policy &standing on most pressing issues of today. pic.twitter.com/wgvd313OrQ
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak and his Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anušauskas signed a document on the development of military…
He added that “important steps have already been taken to strengthen the country’s military security.”
“The Russian threat to Lithuania and our region is not weakening. On the contrary, we see arms-building efforts in Kaliningrad, we hear about plans to build forces on NATO’s eastern borders, and nuclear weapons are being deployed in Belarus,” Nausėda stressed.
He further stated that Lithuania needs to strengthen its national and regional air defense measures, accelerate the purchase of medium-range air defense systems and increase the necessary reserves of the armed forces.
He expressed hope that the NATO summit in Vilnius in July would be able to confirm the agreement reached on the rotational air defense model for the Baltic states, as well as the agreement on new detailed regional defense plans.
In July #NATO summit will be held in Vilnius.
🇱🇹 welcomes the decision of the Allies to confirm a rotational air defense model& seeks approval of new regional defense plans.
🇱🇹 also seeks agreement on prepositioning of capabilities & equipment at the eastern borders of NATO.
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) June 20, 2023
‘More Poland in Lithuania’
In early June, the Lithuanian president said that together with his Polish counterpart they spoke about “closer cooperation on military security”. At the time, Nausėda noted that “more Poland in Lithuania” would be one of his country’s strategic goals.
“I will honestly admit that I would be very happy about that, because we have really achieved a good dynamic in our relations with Poland, both in the military and security spheres,” the Lithuanian head of state said at the time. He also mentioned that “especially in the current circumstances, it would really be worthwhile to take advantage of this excellent mutual engagement.”
In a February interview with France’s Le Figaro, President Duda stressed that “if the Suwałki Gap, the 65-kilometer Polish-Lithuanian border, between Belarus and Russia’s Kaliningrad region, is not defended, the Baltic countries will be cut off from the rest of NATO countries… We take this very seriously, both we and our Baltic partners,” he noted.
In July #NATO summit will be held in Vilnius.
🇱🇹 welcomes the decision of the Allies to confirm a rotational air defense model& seeks approval of new regional defense plans.
🇱🇹 also seeks agreement on prepositioning of capabilities & equipment at the eastern borders of NATO.
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