Lithuanian president urges EU to focus more on eastern border regions

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has urged the European Council to pay greater attention to the European Union's eastern border regions.

He made the remarks on Thursday at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, the presidential office said. The European Council meeting is focused on discussing an updated negotiating document for the bloc's 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

Nauseda welcomed efforts by Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of this year, to build consensus on the 2028-2034 MFF.

He said it was crucial to maintain funding for cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy, as well as to honour obligations set out in accession treaties, including the Kaliningrad transit scheme and the decommissioning of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, while continuing targeted support for Ukraine.

Nauseda criticised proposals to cut funding for the European Competitiveness Fund, particularly its defence component, and to reduce funding for the Connecting Europe Facility, which supports military mobility projects.

He also said the updated MFF negotiating document paid insufficient attention to the EU's eastern border regions and made little progress towards identifying new sources of revenue for the bloc's budget.

Nauseda proposed making the strengthening of the EU's eastern border a horizontal priority for the bloc, with additional funding allocated to national and regional partnership plans and regional projects.

Against the backdrop of Russia's war against Ukraine, particular attention must be paid to projects protecting critical infrastructure and strengthening resilience, as well as to strategic infrastructure projects such as Rail Baltica, which are needed to ensure military mobility along the EU's eastern border, the president said.

According to the presidential office, EU leaders are scheduled to discuss support for Ukraine, EU enlargement and reform, defence and security, and migration on Friday.