Lithuanian Foreign Minister: we have to review current defence planning and respectively evaluate security situation
On 24 June at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius met with the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Philip Breedlove, U.S. Air Force to discuss important NATO issues.
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted that due to the changing security environment in Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania was resolutely increasing its defence spending with an aim to reach 2 percent of GDP by 2020. The Foreign Minister expressed his satisfaction regarding the planned allocation of an extra 130 million litas to defence spending this year.
“In the light of the Russian aggression in Ukraine we have to review current defence planning and respectively evaluate the security situation in Central and Eastern Europe. We must not only update NATO defence plans, but also strengthen preparedness to organize the Alliance’s joint exercises and to ensure the necessary level of forces in the region,” the Foreign Minister L.Linkevičius noted.
General Philip M. Breedlove and L.Linkevičius positively evaluated NATO’s multinational land-force Exercise Saber Strike 2014, which took place on 9-20 June in the Baltic States. They agreed that such exercises improved alliance military readiness and increased both defence and attacking interoperability.
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