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Our shared view on russia with the United Kingdom binds us together, says Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence

2025-03-26
International cooperation | Security and defense policy

Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė met with Secretary of State for Defence John Healey, Chair of the Defence Committee of the Parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, British MPs, media and academia representatives during her visit to London. .

"We are bound together not just by strong bilateral partnership but also by our view on the threat of russia to European security. Therefore we are grateful to the United Kingdom for their consistent efforts to strengthen the security of the Eastern flank of NATO. We strongly support the JEF as a flexible platform that enables the like-minded nations to collaborate, especially in the times of others being in doubt. NATO needs to promote as various formats of cooperation as possible to strengthen unity and resilience," said Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė.

The meetings held in the course of the visit concerned more defence spending, transatlantic bonds, assistance to Ukraine, threat of russia, European security commitments and strengthening defence capabilities. Even though strengthening of the transatlantic partnership remains a priority, the meetings also addressed stepping up Europe's responsibility in collective defence. Speaking about support to Ukraine Minister pointed out the necessity to strengthen our own military capabilities and defence industry as well.

"No matter what conclusion this war comes to, russia will remain a persistent threat. Therefore we have to not just retain the assistance to Ukraine but also to increase the defence spending significantly and immediately, as well as investments in defence industry," said D. Šakalienė. "The good news is that the United Kingdom is increasing its defence expenditure to 2.5% of GDP and will proceed to 3%."

The United Kingdom is one of Lithuania's key partners in security and defence. Both countries closely cooperate in bilateral and multilateral - NATO and the Nordic - formats. One of the most important instances of cooperation is the UK-led JEF (Joint Expeditionary Force), a rapid-response capability for emergencies, including undersea infrastructure incidents. The JEF connects maritime, air and land capabilities of 10 Northern European countries.

"We are grateful to the UK for you leadership as the JEF lead nation. Lithuania looks forward to actively contributing to the largest JEF exercise Tarassis25 this autumn," said Minister of National Defence D. Šakalienė.

Lithuania contributes to the UK-led Mission Interflex for training Ukrainian military personnel alongside Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Australia.

"We seek to further strengthen cooperation with the United Kingdom. It is particularly important in light of support to Ukraine and success of the sanctions against russia. We stand behind the development of security and defend partnership between the UK and the EU," Minister said.

The Royal Air Force deployed air detachments to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states, the United Kingdom is the Framework Nation of the NATO Multinational Battlegroup Estonia and contributes to the U.S.-led NATO Multinational Battlegroup in Poland.

Lithuania holds a 3+3 format meeting "Iron Wolf" in May, Secretary of State for Defence John Healey has been invited to attend.