Lithuanian defense minister: If we don't invest in hard defense now, it'll cost more later

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene is urging investment in defense capabilities now, warning that postponing action will only drive up costs in the future.

"We really have to invest heavily in defense, otherwise we will damage our reputation. And this isn't just about capabilities; it's also about perception," Sakaliene told reporters in Brussels ahead of Thursday's meeting of NATO defense ministers.

With the United States pushing its allies to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense, diplomats say NATO countries will aim to agree on such a commitment at the summit in The Hague in June by splitting it into two components.

The proposal includes a 3.5 percent target for hard defense spending and an extra 1.5 percent for defense-related needs, such as developing dual-use infrastructure.

Sakaliene stressed that infrastructure and spending on military mobility and civil defense are part of the overall security package, but they are meaningless without a strong military and weapons systems.

"If you don't have a strong army, if you don't have weapons systems, if you don't have what it takes to meet NATO's capability targets - and not sometime next century - then none of the rest matters," she said.

Asked whether it is realistic for NATO countries to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2030, the minister said it is important to consider how a breach of Europe's borders by Russia would impact the continent's major economies.

"It's not only the countries on the northeastern border that will be affected. The situation will be very difficult for all economies, and what Germany and France are experiencing now will look like a walk in the park compared to what will happen," she said.

Sakaliene is meeting with NATO defense ministers on Thursday after attending a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday.

"Yesterday, we had only informal meetings on defense funding, but today we'll have a real discussion," she said when asked how other allies view the push for higher defense budgets.

The Defense Ministry said earlier this week that two strategically important declarations are set to be signed on the sidelines of the defense ministers' meeting.

"The first one is a Joint Declaration on Security in the Baltic Sea which will lay out the countries' commitment to strengthen security in the Baltic Sea through closer NATO-EU cooperation and to conduct a coordinated information exchange and deter hostile activities in the region," it said in a press release.

"The second is a Statement of Intent regarding the CV90 combat vehicles which will be an organic part of the newly-formed 1st Division of Lithuania."