The president highlighted three priorities in the area of national defence, chief adviser to the president Frederikas Jansonas said at the media briefing afterwards.
According to him, the primary task is to enhance defence capabilities. Whereas other priorities include the deployment of the German brigade, creation of a division sized unit of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, continued presence of US troops in Lithuania post 2026 and implementation of the rotational model of air defence.
The president’s adviser added that defence spending would have to increase simultaneously ensuring transparency and effective use of funds.
"All of this requires funds. Defence funding was yet another area that was discussed extensively. Compared with the present state, defence spending, for us to achieve our goals by 2030, would have to increase by 50% from the current amount," said Jansonas.
The adviser did not comment whether President Nausėda was going to appoint Šakalienė as national defence minister. According to him, the new Cabinet of Ministers would be appointed all at once rather than individually.
The Office of the President earlier pointed out that based on its estimates the Lithuanian division would reach its full operational capability by 2030 only if defence spending is raised to 5-5.5% of GDP, otherwise it would be reached only by 2036-2040.