Prime Minister Kallas, who the day before had met with her British counterpart Boris Johnson, said in Vilnius that the allies share an understanding that NATO’s presence in our region must be significantly boosted on land, in the air and at sea and that decisions to this effect must be taken at the Madrid summit. “Chancellor Scholz is of the same mind and said as much today,” she confirmed. “Germany is the framework nation for the NATO battlegroup in Lithuania. The effort the country is making to guarantee the security of the Baltic Sea region is one we value very highly.”
The Estonian head of government described Germany’s decision to raise its defence spending to 2% of GDP as an historic one. It will result in the significant strengthening of the country’s Defence Forces. “These steps will make NATO as a whole stronger and boost security in our region as well,” Prime Minister Kallas said. “With our actions we have to very clearly show the aggressor that NATO is not only willing to defend every centimetre of its territory, but realistically capable of doing so. The pariah state must not be allowed to think for even a second that it could or should put the alliance to the test.”
Support for Ukraine was also one of the core issues discussed during the meeting. Prime Minister Kallas stressed that the window within which the free world can change the course of the war instigated by Russia is narrow. “Ukraine needs more military assistance, in particular heavy weaponry, and needs it without delay to fend off Russia’s attacks in the east of the country,” she advised. “We must also grant the Ukrainians unambiguous hope of becoming an EU candidate country.”
While in Vilnius, Prime Minister Kallas also met with her Lithuanian counterpart Ingrida Šimonytė to discuss regional cooperation and raising the cost of Russia’s aggression. A trilateral meeting was also held between the heads of government of the Baltic States in order to prepare for the NATO summit in Madrid and to discuss support for Ukraine.
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