Address by Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania, at the opening of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly session

30 May 2022

 

Photo by Olga Posaškova, Office of the Seimas

 

Honorable President of the Assembly,

 

Mr. Deputy Secretary General,

 

Distinguished Delegates and Guests,

 

I would like to cordially welcome the NATO Parliamentary Assembly gathering in Vilnius at this extremely grave security situation around us.

 

Unfortunately, nobody and nothing so far could force Putin to end his brutal war and rethink his appalling intentions towards Ukraine. The entire world has changed irreversibly.

 

Putin started with Ukraine. But obviously, he has bigger plans. Such as destroying the entire Euro-Atlantic security architecture.

 

We shouldn’t dismiss the fact that NATO has also received Russian demands and ultimatums with very clear references towards the Baltic region, too.

 

Lithuania is sandwiched between the heavily militarized Kaliningrad region and Belarus.

 

Belarus has joined Russia in its brutal endeavors, providing host nation support to execute military aggression from its territory against sovereign Ukraine.

 

Belarus is de facto part of Russia. A part of Russia’s military aggression, too.

 

With this, our major security concern – short notice – has increased dramatically. Time for NATO to react shrinks almost to nothing.

 

Thus, we must do everything it takes to make sure Putin never dares to test our boundaries and NATO’s resolve.

 

For this to achieve we must take the necessary decisions at the Madrid Summit. It is time for the Alliance to define and set the necessary goals aimed at boosting our defenses.

 

It is crucial to ensure there is no weak spot left. These decisions are extremely important.

 

Not taking them at the Madrid Summit would be a strategic mistake. It would harm NATO’s resolve and be beneficial only to Russia.

 

So, we must get them right.

    

Firstly, we must realize, that the Russian threat will not disappear for years to come. Thus, we must clearly name Russia as a key and long-term threat to the entire Euro-Atlantic area.

 

We must set NATO policies accordingly, including NATO’s approach to Russia.

 

Russia has made a deliberate choice to destroy the world order as we know it. After February 24th we should not have any illusions about that. We must keep Russia accountable for its actions and crimes.

 

We must realize that our hesitations, passiveness, and appeasement will only encourage further aggression.

 

Secondly, the ongoing war in Europe requires immediate changes in our deterrence and defense posture.

 

Hyper reliance on defense by reinforcement is not viable any longer. We must move to modern forward defense.

 

The battalion-sized enhanced forward presence needs to be upgraded to brigade level with all the necessary enablers.

 

Staying with the current posture would neither be understood by our societies nor send the right signal to Russia.

 

We need to have the right forces in the right places, plans, capabilities, and speedy decision-making.

 

Security specificities in the Baltic region must be addressed very seriously, including the Suwalki corridor.

 

In the current security environment, “wait and see” is not a strategy to follow.

 

Hesitation to take decisive action in strengthening our defense would only leave us in the mist of “strategic confusion” we cannot afford.

 

This time, we cannot be late.

 

Thirdly, in the new Strategic Concept, collective defense must be clearly defined as the primary and core task of the Alliance.

 

With Article Five commitment at the heart of it, underpinned by irreplaceable transatlantic bond.

 

Fourth, the Open Door policy has proved to be the most effective tool in expanding security and providing peace for millions of Europeans. We must do our best to ensure swift and successful accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, and to maintain a credible Alliance Open Door policy.

 

Dear Delegates of the Assembly,

 

Working collectively as close and trusted Allies, we have always had a common vision of how Euro-Atlantic security must be built, protected, and defended.

 

However, European peace has been fundamentally shattered.

 

The goal of Europe, whole and free, united in peace, democracy, and common values, has become even more difficult to achieve. But we shouldn’t give up.

 

We must unite all our efforts, minds and resources to show our strong resolve against Russia’s aggression.  

 

Security and stability of entire Europe, maybe even the World, will depend on the events in Ukraine.

 

I must admit, it is quite shocking to observe that Ukraine today has to endure calls for territorial concessions to Russia. It is totally unacceptable.

 

We must do everything it takes to help Ukraine to defend itself. We have to provide Ukraine with all the weapon systems needed.

 

And not only that. We must consolidate our unity and determination to help Ukraine to become member of the European and Euro-Atlantic family.

 

And allied parliamentarism is a powerful instrument to contribute to this effort.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

We are navigating through very dark and difficult times.

 

We have each other and shared values to rely on. It is a priceless pillar we should never doubt or trade.

 

We also have a collective obligation to stay on the right side of history.

 

Slava Ukraini!

 

Thank you.