VILNIUS - Lithuanian political parties' agreement on defense could be updated, but the government's priority is finding more funding for national defense, Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said on Tuesday.
"Agreements are necessary and meaningful, but there's no money in agreements," the prime minister told the political group of the conservative Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats (HU-LCD) in the parliament.
"If we're talking about short-term actions that need to be taken or steps that should be made, I believe an agreement, in one form or another, will emerge when the votes are put on the table in the Seimas," he added.
According to Paluckas, the government is currently tasked with finding real financial sources after the State Defense Council set a target for defense spending of 5-6 percent of GDP annually from 2026 to 2030.
"Preparations for such an agreement can take place in parallel. I've no doubt that more parliamentary parties in the Seimas would support such an initiative," he said.
The opposition conservatives, who initiated the agreement several years ago when they led the ruling coalition, are calling for its update.
The agreement on defense and national security, signed by nine parties on July 15, 2022, calls for allocating at least 2.5 percent of GDP to defense and increasing funding according to the defense system's needs, as well as for raising the number of conscripts.
It also commits to speeding up the formation of the reserve, aiming for an active reserve of up to 50,000 soldiers by 2030, strengthening the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, preparing citizens for resistance, establishing a cyber-force as a separate branch of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, and more.
The cross-party agreement on defense is in force until 2030.
Lithuania is making efforts to increase defense spending even further in order to reach full national division and other critical infrastructure capabilities by 2030.
This year's budget earmarks just over 3 percent of GDP for defense, but the new government’s initiative to raise the borrowing limit has opened the door to additional funding, which will allow raising the percentage to 4 percent.
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