Nauseda Calls Out Russia
Addressing participants of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s plenary session in Vilnius on May 30, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said that NATO must clearly name Russia as a key threat to the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic region after it started a war in Ukraine, and added that the Alliance must make decisions on the security of the Baltic region at the forthcoming NATO summit in Madrid.
“Putin started with Ukraine. But obviously, he has bigger plans. Such as destroying the entire Euro-Atlantic security architecture,” the Lithuanian president said. He also pointed out that NATO had received Russian demands and ultimatums “with very clear references towards the Baltic region, too.” As Belarus has de facto become part of Russia, the Baltic region’s security has changed dramatically, and the time for NATO to react shrinks almost to nothing, the Lithuanian president said.
“Thus, we must do everything it takes to make sure Putin never dares to test our boundaries and NATO’s resolve,” Nauseda said. The ongoing war in Europe requires immediate changes in NATO’s deterrence and defense posture, the Lithuanian president said, adding that the battalion-sized enhanced forward presence needs to be upgraded to the brigade level. “We must realize that the Russian threat will not disappear for years to come. Thus, we must clearly name Russia as a key and long-term threat to the entire Euro-Atlantic area.”
The president noted that Russia has made a deliberate choice to destroy the world order as we know it, and after February 24, we should not have any illusions about that and realize that “our hesitations, passiveness, and appeasement will only encourage further aggression”.
The Lithuanian president also expressed his shock over emerging calls for Ukraine to cede part of its territory to Russia to end the war.
The Seimas of Lithuania hosted a plenary session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and threats posed by Russia. The assembly was to be held in Kyiv, but due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the event had to be urgently moved to a safer location, and the Lithuanian Seimas proposed to hold it in Vilnius. The Baltic Times
