Lithuanian defmin urges against overstating NATO meeting in Poland

VILNIUS - Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas has urged not to overstate the importance of a US-initiated meeting in Poland with only some NATO allies.

Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, the UK and other countries were not invited to the format. According to President Gitanas Nauseda, this is a Bergen format meeting which, besides the US, includes only Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

"I would invite us to stop beating ourselves up, as we probably create about 80 percent of the problems in our heads that do not actually exist," Kaunas told journalists on Thursday.

According to the minister, the meeting is pragmatic, as the invited countries have the financial and military capabilities to implement the so-called burden-sharing decisions. Among them are states with fighter jets, refuelling aircraft, bombers and other heavy and strategic weaponry.

"So they are talking to those countries that have the actual capabilities to implement this," Kaunas stressed again.

Despite not participating in the meeting, Kaunas emphasised that the Baltic states are always valued as reliable NATO allies.

"The Baltic countries are constantly praised as reliable allies, we fulfil our obligations, we have our strategic mission, which we are implementing," Kaunas said.