339 articles
Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė conducted a visit to Finland where she met with her Finnish colleague Antti Häkkänen and Chairman of the Defence Committee Parliament of Finland Jukka Kopra, reports the Ministry of National Defence.
Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė stressed at a press conference on Friday that Lithuania should be well prepared to defend itself even though it is not under a threat of military invasion in the foreseeable future.
Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė told reporters Friday that Lithuania will soon adopt a decision regarding withdrawal from the Ottawa Treaty that bans the use of anti-personnel landmines, and it will likely be a regional move.
Lithuanian business associations have proposed increasing the value added tax (VAT) rate by 1% and introducing a nationwide tax on residential property or real estate. The funds raised by the additional taxes should be used exclusively to finance defence, their joint letter to the Government reads.
Lithuania’s ambition to boost national defence spending and defence capabilities must not come at the expense of social policy, says President Gitanas Nausėda.
Some people fear that the new US administration may withdraw its troops from the Baltic States, but Chief of Defence of Lithuania General Raimundas Vaikšnoras assures the public that there is no change in military terms, yet NATO countries in Europe must devote more attention to defence funding.
Lithuania’s State Defence Council convened on Wednesday, 26 February, and president’s chief national security adviser Marius Česnulevičius told the media afterwards that there are no new threats facing Lithuania.
The Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (TS-LKD) is ready to back the Government’s initiatives on higher defence funding, despite the havoc wreaked by the Nemunas Dawn chair, says party leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas, former defence minister.
Air defence company Frankenburg Technologies, operating in Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, has also expanded to Lithuania. Karolis Žemaitis, the head of the company in Lithuania, says it aims to produce small missiles that destroy drones.
President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda believes that MP Remigijus Žemaitaitis, leader of the Nemunas Dawn party, should face legal consequences for fearmongering and lying about proposals regarding defence funding.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts say that in order to increase spending on defence and social security, Lithuania needs to look for additional sources of budget revenue and seek greater efficiency of the public sector, the central bank said in a press release on Thursday.
The Board of the Seimas on Wednesday approved a proposal to hold a closed sitting of the Parliament in March to discuss threat assessment and the need for additional funding for national defence.
Swedbank’s chief economist Nerijus Mačiulis believes that in current circumstances, when defence funding needs to be raised rapidly, this should be done by borrowing rather than by using foreign exchange reserves or the State Social Insurance Fund Board’s (Sodra) reserves.
On Friday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with the head of the Bank of Lithuania to discuss potential revenue sources to boost defence funding. The president will propose to change legislation to increase the contribution of the Bank of Lithuania to the state budget to meet the growing defence needs....
President Gitanas Nausėda will propose to change legislation to increase the contribution of the Bank of Lithuania to the state budget to meet the growing defence needs.
The State Defence Council convened for a sitting on Friday and President Gitanas Nausėda afterwards revealed that it was agreed on 5-6% of GDP defence spending in coming years.
President Gitanas Nausėda has welcomed the state budget plan for 2025-2027 passed by the Seimas on Thursday, hailing the Government’s decision on additional funding for defence.
Two deputy ministers of national defence have taken office, the ministry reports. They are Tomas Godliauskas, former national security adviser to the president, and Karolis Aleksa, former head of the defence policy group at the Ministry of National Defence.
On Wednesday, the storage facility of counter mobility equipment in Rūdninkai Training Area, south of Vilnius, was presented to members of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence. MPs were informed that these facilities are an integral part of the Baltic defence line.
On Friday, President Gitanas Nausėda met with Estonian President Alar Karis and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs in Klaipėda for a regular annual meeting of the Presidents of the three Baltic States. The three leaders discussed the security situation in the region, support for Ukraine, energy inde...
