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In Brussels, the President urged EU leaders to start EU accession negotiations with Ukraine as soon as possible

President of the Republic of Lithuania

March 22, 2024

At the European Council meeting in Brussels, President Gitanas Nausėda called on EU leaders to step up military support for Ukraine and to accelerate its integration into the EU. The meeting was also attended remotely by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Lithuanian Head of State also stressed the need to invest in the development of the European defense industry.

"Military support for Ukraine is the most important task we must all do together today. The artificial "red lines" drawn by Western countries since 2014 lead nowhere, but only hold us back. We must make far more effective use of the tools already available, such as the European Peace Facility, and develop new ones. Lithuania has joined the Czech initiative to acquire ammunition for Ukraine in third countries," President Gitanas Nausėda pointed out in his address to EU leaders.

The Head of State also stressed that the EU should accelerate Ukraine's integration process and use the frozen Russian funds for Ukraine's reconstruction.

"Lithuania's position is clear—Ukraine and Moldova should start negotiations on EU membership as early as June," the President added.

Gitanas Nausėda also proposed to start drafting a 14th package of EU economic sanctions against Russia to include liquefied natural gas, aluminum, Rosatom, more Russian banks, and a ban on Russian grain imports into the EU.

The Lithuanian Head of State underlined that the geopolitical situation in Europe has become even more tense since the so-called presidential elections in Russia, and that the EU must take all necessary measures to ensure its security.

"The overly slow aid to Ukraine clearly shows the gaps we have in our defense industry. The Kremlin's imperialist, anti-Western rhetoric has only intensified in recent days, which is why we need to stand together and be stronger than ever. We must increase defense funding and promote the development of the defense industry right here, right now," said the President.

According to Gitanas Nausėda, this requires not only action by individual EU Member States or bilateral agreements, but also a unified European Union policy on financial support for defense.

"The priorities of the European Investment Bank should be reviewed in the light of today's situation and challenges, and the European Commission should look for new, innovative ways of financing the defense industry. We managed to do this during the pandemic, and we need to find solutions now," the President of Lithuania underscored.

The President's Communication Group