‘I’d keep champagne in the fridge’ – Lithuanian FM on new Baltic defence plans

New NATO defence plans for the Baltic countries have not yet been approved, so it is too early to celebrate, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.

“We hope that consensus will be reached, but it is not guaranteed yet. Let me remind you that the earlier defence plans stalled for a very long time,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

The minister was referring to the situation a few years ago when Turkey blocked the updated NATO defence plans of the Baltic states and Poland to push for the labelling of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria as terrorists.

“I’d probably keep the champagne in the fridge for now,” Landsbergis said.

Last week, the minister called the new plans “a significant step forward”. President Gitanas Nausėda also said that the new Baltic defence plans, which have been presented to member states, meet Lithuania’s expectations.

In a reflection of NATO’s changing strategy, the new Baltic defence plans provide for defence from the first days of a potential conflict. Previously, the approach was that the Baltic countries should try to hold off a Russian offensive until allied reinforcements arrive to help them.

Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys said on Monday that the new plans were fully in line with Lithuania’s expectations.

Rupšys described the plans as “an instruction on how we would deter, how we would fight, when and what military actions we would take, and how we would react in time and space”.

However, Landsbergis said that the plans lacked an element of deterrence.

“The plan does not cover this element, so we urge [NATO] not to forget what was committed to in the Madrid agreements,” he said.

(EURACTIV’s partner LRT)