Nausėda calls for nationwide readiness and NATO support

Lithuania’s defence depends on readiness across the whole state as well as cooperation with NATO allies, President Gitanas Nausėda said, according to LRT. He spoke on Monday in Kaunas while observing Perkūno griausmas, a military exercise involving the Lithuanian armed forces, state institutions and NATO forces.

Nausėda said Ukraine’s fight had shown that a country is defended not by its army alone, but by the whole state. He said the exercise addressed the need for everyone to act together and be as well prepared as possible.

He also highlighted joint action with NATO, saying the presence of US and German military units in Lithuania showed the country was not alone. Joint exercises, he said, strengthened readiness to defend freedom and shared values together if necessary.

The president added that preparedness and deterrence depended not only on equipment and weapons, but also on well-trained people and institutions. “If we want to preserve peace, what we need is genuine, high-quality preparation,” he said.

The exercises are testing mobilisation procedures, the call-up of reserve soldiers, and the protection of border areas and critical infrastructure. Participants will also practise responding to hybrid and cyber threats. The drills began with the activation of military units assigned peacetime tasks to reinforce State Border Guard Service posts.

Chief of the Defence Staff Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas said up to 2,400 active personnel reserve soldiers would be called up to various Lithuanian military units in September and October. More than 5,000 other reserve soldiers would be contacted to update their contact and other necessary details.

The Reserve Soldier 2026 training is part of the Lithuanian armed forces’ Perkūno griausmas 2026 exercise series, which tests the military and state institutions’ readiness for armed defence, mobilisation procedures and the staffing of military units with reserve soldiers. Elements of the state’s armed defence plan will also be practised in the context of NATO’s Steadfast Duel 2026 exercise.