Lithuania joins 16 countries in undersea infrastructure protection declaration

VILNIUS - Lithuania has joined 16 other countries in a declaration on protecting critical undersea infrastructure, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

The document was released during the Shangri-La Dialogue, an Asian defence and security forum in Singapore, attended by Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas.

"This agreement sets out guidelines for cooperation between defence institutions in protecting strategic maritime cables and pipelines. The initiative's partners emphasised that geographical barriers are no obstacle to a flexible response to global hybrid threats in new areas of defence," Kaunas said.

Signatories to the declaration include the UK, Singapore, Australia, Japan, France and the Nordic countries.

Kaunas, who attended the event, said modern threats transcend regional boundaries, making cooperation in countering adversaries a strategic necessity.

"Hybrid pressure—balancing on the brink of armed attack and using fabricated justifications—is not a challenge experienced by Europe alone. The same logic and structure, using different tools, is characteristic of the Asian region. Smaller states should not be forced to face these threats alone," the minister said.

He said Lithuania and its Indo-Pacific partners are linked by the same principles: a rules-based order, the importance of sovereignty regardless of a country's size, freedom of navigation and the right of every country to choose its partners independently.

According to the minister, defence "always rests on two poles—one's own readiness and cooperation with allies, partners and like-minded states."

"We have excellent relations with Ukraine, and together we are developing technologies for unmanned aerial vehicles and electronic warfare. While here in Singapore, I met with defence companies and discussed the need to jointly develop technologies, create reliable supply chains and strengthen research and experimental development," Kaunas said.

According to the ministry, the minister also met defence representatives from the US, Singapore, Australia, Japan and other countries to discuss critical infrastructure protection, cyber security, the defence industry and support for Ukraine.

The Shangri-La Dialogue brings together defence ministers and security experts from Europe, Asia and the Americas to discuss global security challenges.

Lithuania is strengthening cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region and plans to develop this direction at European Union level when it takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2027.