Lithuanian PM says country adapting to rising security threats

2026-04-20
BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene said on Monday that Lithuania is adapting to a changing geopolitical environment and rising security risks.

"Today, the winning country will be the one that can adapt quickly to changing realities and accurately read geopolitical messages in a timely manner. This is exactly what we are demonstrating and doing," the head of government told reporters.

"Freedom is not a given: you cannot fall asleep, you must remain in a state of constant readiness. It is gratifying that we are members of a strong NATO alliance and we are not alone here," she added.

The remarks follow statements by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who suggested Russia is restricting social media access to prevent unrest in the event of a general mobilisation for a major new offensive against Ukraine or an attack on one of the Baltic states.

Ruginiene emphasised that threats from Russia and Belarus are not new to Lithuania, noting that the country has faced various provocations.

"We fully understand the geographical zone we live in and that (...) with the war in Ukraine, a different reality has arrived in the Baltic states. (...) Therefore, since last year, we have been accelerating all processes at maximum capacity, reprioritising both defence plans and acquisitions, because the plans that were once laid out clearly need to be changed," the prime minister said.

"This year, the NATO security plan will be updated according to today’s realities, and we, as Lithuania, are giving huge priority to air defence because we see the nature of the wars across the border and we must truly prepare for that," she added.

At last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, alliance members committed to spending at least five percent of GDP on defence and security by 2035, split into three point five percent for direct defence and one point five percent for related projects such as military mobility. Lithuania is allocating 5.38 percent of its GDP to defence this year.