KAM: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are preparing a defense agreement between the Baltic States
The document will have to be ratified by national parliaments after interinstitutional negotiations.
According to the Minister of Defense Arvydas Anušauskas, he and his colleagues from the Baltic States agreed to further coordinate actions so that this agreement could be signed in the near future.
“We all understand the importance of providing rapid and smooth military assistance to each other in times of peace, crisis and conflict. Today, we have taken a step towards closer co-operation in the field of defense, ”A. Anušauskas is quoted as saying in the Ministry’s report.
The ministers, who met on the island of Saaremaa, signed a co-operation communication, in which they also emphasized their unanimous understanding of Russia’s threat, seeking to mobilize in both NATO and EU formats to help Ukraine.
“We discussed preparations for the NATO summit in Madrid in June, where the Baltic states are seeking key decisions to strengthen the Alliance’s eastern fringe defense,” he said.
“We hope to implement a front-line defense concept based on front-line brigades, which would include reinforced front-line battalions, complemented by appropriate forces in each of the Baltic states. “We want other NATO allies to understand that,” he added.
According to the ministry, in recent years Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have been cooperating most actively at the Baltic Defense College in developing maritime situational awareness capabilities and the concept of a military airspace block, as well as in developing long-range missile artillery capabilities.