Lithuanian defence minister urges focus on NATO, not EU army debates

Lithuania’s Minister of National Defence, Robertas Kaunas, has called for Europe to strengthen its defence readiness and avoid duplicating structures across the EU, NATO and other international frameworks.

Speaking at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels, Kaunas stressed that discussions on creating a “European army” should not distract from strengthening NATO’s capabilities.

“Today we understand that credible deterrence can work only if it backed by real military strength. This is why it's not a time to speak about the European army. Now we must focus to achieve NATO's European military capability targets. It's most important right now,” he said.

According to Lithuanian media, participants also discussed proposals by EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius to establish an intergovernmental defence union during the meeting. 

Kubilius noted that such a structure would strengthen the European component within NATO without replacing the Alliance. Countries outside the EU, including the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Norway, could potentially join the initiative.

Kaunas separately emphasised the importance of continued support for Ukraine, highlighting not only the need to strengthen its defence capabilities but also deeper integration into the European defence industry through joint projects and technology transfer.

He also said Europe must adapt to the new security environment by building a more resilient defence architecture, noting that Russia is increasing its weapons production faster than Europe, which requires the EU to accelerate its own defence development.

By Jeyhun Aghazada