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Minister Budrys: Ensuring national security is the main foreign policy priority for Lithuania

Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2025-07-07

Today, on 7 July, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, met with the heads of Lithuania's diplomatic missions, consular offices, and representations to international organizations. This is a traditional annual meeting of the ambassadors of Lithuania, where the achievements of the past year are evaluated and future tasks are discussed.

The Minister with the ambassadors discussed the most important geopolitical issues and outlined the key priorities of Lithuania's foreign policy.

"The most important priority of Lithuania's foreign policy is to ensure national security. We must maintain NATO's role as a cornerstone of security in transatlantic space and increase Europe's contribution to collective security," the Minister stressed.

Budrys stressed that the outcome of Russia's war against Ukraine was an existential issue for Lithuania's security, therefore, mobilising support for Ukraine remains one of Lithuania's foreign policy priorities.

"In order to defend itself and to continue defending the security of entire Europe, Ukraine needs air defence capabilities, artillery shells, and munitions. Lithuania has continuosly supported Ukraine since the beginning and is among the leaders in terms of the volume of military support. We urge other European countries to do their utmost to provide military support to Ukraine, especially since the prospect of such support from the United States is currently unclear," the Minister said.

The head of Lithuania's diplomacy also emphasized the importance of preserving the rules-based international order.

"It is important for Lithuania to ensure the accountability of the Russian and Belarusian regimes for war crimes and crimes against humanity so that they are not repeated in the future. The lessons of history have shown us that impunity leads to even greater atrocities and continuation of aggression. We must stop this and prevent authoritarian regimes from achieving their goals of destroying the rules-based international order," Budrys said.

The meeting also addressed other foreign policy priorities, including Lithuania's upcoming presidency of the Council of the EU in 2027 and the tasks of economic diplomacy. The strengthening of bilateral relations and cooperation among the Nordic Baltic Eight (NB8) countries were also discussed.