Lithuanian defence chief on security strategies: We need both Europe and US

As Europe races to rearm in the face of growing threats from Russia, Lithuania's defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, has called for a strategic balance between supporting European defence industries and maintaining strong transatlantic ties by purchasing weapons from the United States.

“At the same time, we need to support our national and European defence industries, while also keeping and nourishing transatlantic bonds, which means buying American weapons. So we are going to balance,” Šakalienė told Politico, per Caliber.Az.

She emphasized that defence procurement should be based on practical considerations rather than political agendas. “It’s not really about the weapons manufacturers; it’s about the ability to defend ourselves. Political and national interests are going to be part of the equation, but the main element is going to be our security,” she said. “Those able to produce weapons that best answer our needs, and to produce them the fastest, are the most desirable on the market.”

Lithuania, a Baltic nation sharing a border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave, has been a vocal advocate for European vigilance against Russian aggression. The country has dramatically increased its defence spending, allocating up to 4 per cent of GDP this year — double NATO’s current target.

“We would be naive to think that Europe does not need the United States. We do,” Šakalienė said. “But at the same time, we also need Europe to grow stronger.”

Under NATO’s capability targets, Vilnius is required to field a national division by 2030. Currently, Lithuania hosts a US battalion and is preparing for the arrival of a German brigade. The country has also bolstered its borders with mines and anti-tank defences.

Šakalienė highlighted Lithuania’s diverse procurement strategy, which includes Leopard tanks from Germany, Caesar self-propelled howitzers from France, Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems, and HIMARS rocket systems from the US.

The Lithuanian government recently announced plans to allocate 5–6 per cent of GDP to defence from 2024 through 2030. This ambitious target earned praise from European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister.

Šakalienė downplayed suggestions that the spending increase aligns with US President Donald Trump’s call for NATO members to target 5 per cent of GDP for defence, calling it “just a lucky coincidence.”

However, funding such a significant increase presents challenges. President Gitanas Nausėda estimated that Lithuania will need an additional €12–13 billion to meet its 2030 goals, far exceeding the €2.1 billion spent on defence in 2024.

Šakalienė made it clear that Lithuania will not compromise its welfare state to fund the military budget, contrasting with recent remarks by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who suggested cutting social spending to free up defence funds. “Taking certain austerity measures to cut our education, health care, and social affairs to fund defence is not a sustainable solution,” she argued.

Instead, Šakalienė proposed a combination of national and EU funding, including defence bonds and reallocation of funds from initiatives like the NextGenerationEU Covid recovery fund and the SURE unemployment relief program.

President Nausėda is set to bring these funding challenges to the table during the EU’s informal defence meeting on February 3. Šakalienė stressed the urgency of creating an EU mechanism for quick investment in NATO’s eastern borders.

“We all understand that without throwing together an [EU] instrument that could be used for quick investment into external NATO borders in this region, it’s not going to work,” she concluded.

By Tamilla Hasanova