Lithuania to make defence key priority of EU Council presidency

Defence will remain one of Lithuania’s main priorities during its presidency of the Council of the European Union, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas said after meeting European Commission Vice-President and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on Tuesday, LRT reported.

“Defence is one of the European Union’s most important priorities. We are closely monitoring the work of the current presidency and assessing the initiatives being continued during Ireland’s presidency. At the same time, we are consistently preparing for Lithuania’s future presidency,” Kaunas said in a statement.

He said Lithuania aimed to continue ongoing work, strengthen Europe’s defence readiness and ensure that EU decisions were backed by real capabilities and adequate funding.

According to the Defence Ministry, Lithuania will seek to further strengthen EU defence readiness, develop joint European defence initiatives and projects, promote sustainable growth in Europe’s defence industry, ensure comprehensive support for Ukraine and improve conditions for military mobility across the bloc.

One of the main events of Lithuania’s presidency will be an informal meeting of EU defence ministers, scheduled to take place in Vilnius in April.

Lithuania also plans to hold a high-level conference on the Eastern Flank Watch initiative. It will address defence solutions along the EU’s external borders, border protection needs, the threat posed by drones and the integration of Ukraine’s military experience into European defence planning.

Kaunas said strengthening the eastern flank should become one of the EU’s strategic defence priorities.

“The eastern flank is the European Union’s and NATO’s external border with Russia and Belarus. Therefore, the security of this region is not only an issue for Lithuania, the other Baltic states or Poland, but for the security of all Europe,” he said.

In May 2026, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden submitted the Eastern Flank Watch proposal to the European Commission as a European defence project of common interest. More countries later joined the initiative, bringing the total number of participating states to 18.

The European Commission included Eastern Flank Watch on its list of recommended European defence projects of common interest. The EU Council is expected to decide on the projects in September.

Lithuania wants Eastern Flank Watch to be properly reflected in EU defence initiatives and at the highest level of the political agenda. The ministry said the project would require long-term and sufficient EU funding. Preliminary estimates put its total funding needs at around 100 billion euros.

The meeting also covered further EU action to support Ukraine. Lithuania is seeking faster integration of Ukraine into Europe’s defence industrial and technological base.

Kaunas said EU licensing and certification rules needed to be simplified so that cooperation between Ukrainian and European defence industries could develop more quickly.

The minister and Kallas also discussed national air defence priorities. Lithuania is rapidly strengthening its airspace surveillance, air defence and counter-drone capabilities in response to the growing threat posed by low-flying aerial threats.

The ministry said one of the main projects currently being implemented was the development of a short-range air defence system. Lithuania would need up to 1 billion euros to strengthen these capabilities, while the three Baltic states together would need around 2 billion euros.

Between 2026 and 2030, Lithuania plans to allocate 2.03 billion euros to the development of airspace surveillance, air defence and electronic warfare.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have also asked the European Commission for additional EU funding for urgent air defence needs.

Kaunas told Kallas that strengthening European defence must involve more than expanding military capabilities. NATO defence plans are placing increasing emphasis on host-nation support, which is inseparable from civilian capabilities.

Tags: Lithuania, EU defence, Eastern Flank Watch