“Europe must do more for the defense industry. There is progress, new production lines, but not new factories. There is an evolution underway, not a revolution, and we need a revolution. The 2% of GDP dedicated to military spending is now a yesterday’s issue. At the NATO summit in Washington, 23 out of 32 countries will have reached or exceeded 2%. I can confirm that Lithuania has reached 3%, but for us it is a starting point, not a finishing line, especially given that Russia is heading towards 6% and has adopted a war economy. The idea of a European commissioner for defense is good, I was among the first to propose it, we need someone to coordinate the military effort that is destined to increase in the coming years”. This is how Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas, who has held the role since last March after having led the National Security and Defense Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament for years, began his interview with Adnkronos.
Italy is still far from the 2% threshold, but Kasčiūnas reiterated the excellent relations with our country, especially after meeting his counterpart Guido Crosetto, with whom he discussed the Italian contribution to the “Baltic air policing mission”, in which the Eurofighter Typhoons and the F35s of our Air Force guarantee safety in the skies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The two ministers then agreed on the need for a strong European defense within NATO and on the integration of air defense at a European level. Among the issues on the table, the underwater dimension, the protection of sensitive infrastructures, joint training and G2G (Government to Government) cooperation: “We already have a consolidated relationship with Leonardo, which supplies us with Spartan transport aircraft. But we are interested in going further in industrial cooperation, even opening Leonardo production lines in Lithuania, perhaps for “smart” Vulcano ammunition. We could create joint Italian-Lithuanian companies, joint projects, or even sign a framework agreement in which to include all these possibilities for cooperation,” the minister continued.
The NATO summit in Washington will be held from July 9 to 11, and follows the one in Vilnius last year. “We have implemented a new generation of regional defense plans, we have moved from deterrence by punishment to deterrence by denial, we are able to make decisions faster and more flexible. Now the main challenge is to equip these plans with a concrete force. We must be faster in investing in ammunition, air defense, long-range strike capabilities. At the summit we must put in writing that the process of Ukraine’s accession to NATO is irreversible, we certainly cannot leave it to Russia to veto who can and cannot join”.
Speaking of Russia, a “jamming” operation has been underway for months, disturbing GPS satellites, which makes it more difficult to manage air traffic in the Baltic region, so much so that in April two Finnish Finnair planes were forced to turn back and return to Helsinki, unable to continue their flight. “It is certainly part of the Russian hybrid war,” explains Kasčiūnas, “like the illegal migrants who are brought to our borders with Belarus. The attribution of these unconventional attacks is now clear, it is time to adopt a ‘toolbox’ to make Moscow understand that it will pay a price. It is not easy, because they are careful to stay below the threshold of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty, which provides for a collective response in the event of an attack against a member state. But there is room to increase sanctions, on ships that pass through our seas, on Russian goods that move in our markets. In many sectors, Russia is dependent on the West, and we must use this lever to make it understand that we will not stand still in the face of its hybrid war.”
When we ask him what the priorities are for Lithuania in this field, he has no doubts: “Air defense. In the coming months we will equip ourselves with three batteries of medium-range systems, but in the future we intend to adopt long-range systems such as Patriot and Samp/T. UAVs, drones, are one of our strategic emergencies. We must hurry to adopt an ecosystem of unmanned aircraft, and a defense apparatus against these instruments, which allows for a radio-electronic but also kinetic response. In short, to be able to shoot them down. In Lithuania we are moving towards a total defense system, which involves the entire government, the entire society. Territorial self-defense, doctors, engineers, civil servants trained to intervene in case of need, in support of the military forces. When I visited Kharkhiv, the mayor told me that without the civilian component the city would never have been able to survive. We must get used to seeing the world through the prism of security”. (by Giorgio Rutelli)
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