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The State Defense Council focuses on unrest in Russia and the situation in Belarus

President of the Republic of Lithuania

June 25, 2023

On Sunday, President Gitanas Nausėda chaired a meeting of the State Defense Council to discuss the unrest in Russia and its consequences for Lithuania's national security.

According to the President, the Russian regime has demonstrated its vulnerability in a new crisis caused by the actions of the private military company Wagner. Similar or even greater challenges can be expected in the future.

"The sequence of events has demonstrated that the king is naked and that military columns of this size can march far enough to pose a fundamental threat to the regime," the President said after the meeting.

Gitanas Nausėda underlined that the instability of a large neighboring state will inevitably affect Lithuania's national security. Having the Wagner group on the ground in Belarus could become an additional factor.

The State Defense Council placed considerable emphasis on the situation in Belarus. It was agreed that the threat of illegal activities on the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, including various provocations, is growing. This requires strengthening the security of Lithuania's and NATO's eastern borders.

The State Defense Council instructed intelligence services to place increased focus on information gathering in Belarus and Russia's Kaliningrad region. The President called for reverting to the earlier proposal to apply the procedure of additional personalized screening not only to Russian but also to Belarusian citizens.

According to the President, it is necessary to speed up implementing the Defense Council's recommendation - not yet agreed or approved - to update the border cover plan. This must be done before the NATO summit in Vilnius.

Taking part in the meeting were Speaker of Parliament Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, Minister of National Defense Arvydas Anušauskas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis, Minister of the Interior Agnė Bilotaitė, Chief of Defense Valdemaras Rupšys, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas, and representatives of national intelligence institutions.

The President's Communication Group