Lithuanian State Defense Council to discuss priority defense needs

  • 2018-03-20
  • LETA/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian State Defense Council will discuss the country's priority defense needs at its meeting on Tuesday, the president's press office said.

"The State Defense Council, chaired by Dalia Grybauskaite, the president of the Republic of Lithuania, will discuss the country's priority defense needs," it told BNS.

Under the Constitution, the State Defense Council discusses and coordinates key state defense issues. The council is chaired by the president and includes the prime minister, the speaker of the Seimas, the defense minister and the chief of defense.

Lithuania is set to meet NATO's 2 percent of GDP defense spending target for the first time this year, with around 873 million euros allocated for the defense budget.

The country has sharply increased its defense budget since Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.

Politicians are currently discussing whether the country needs to further raise its defense spending.