Analyst says Lithuania and Poland have let leaders’ contacts lapse

Lithuania and Poland maintain close security cooperation, but political analyst Andžej Pukšto says too much time has passed between meetings of their prime ministers. LRT reported his comments to ELTA, in which he called for more political attention to bilateral ties.

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius has made his first foreign visits to the Baltic states and later travelled to Brussels. So far, he has spoken with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, only by phone. The two leaders are expected to meet in mid-October at the Warsaw Security Forum.

Pukšto, an associate professor at Vytautas Magnus University’s Department of Political Science, said the lull reflected choices by both countries. He said Tusk’s government had focused more on Germany and France, which Tusk and Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski have described as key partners in shaping the European Union’s agenda.

Lithuania also bears some responsibility for the reduced political attention to Warsaw, Pukšto said. He noted that Germany is Lithuania’s leading partner in military cooperation, while the country also focuses on ties among the Nordic and Baltic states. Cooperation between Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys and Poland had been “middling”, he said, adding that the same could be said of Sinkevičius’s engagement. Pukšto described the situation as a degree of mutual indifference.

Poland’s economic and political weight in Europe, as well as its global role and ties with the United States, have grown in recent years, Pukšto said. He pointed to Poland’s invitation to take part in a Group of 20 meeting as one example.

Before Tusk took office, Poland’s conservative government engaged more actively with Lithuania, Pukšto said. Then-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his foreign minister often visited Vilnius. Pukšto said Poland now appeared to be prioritising its most influential partners, pushing cooperation with the Baltic states further down Tusk’s and Sikorski’s agenda.

Despite the gap in high-level contacts, the countries’ interests remain closely connected, particularly on security. Pukšto said their defence ministries and military chiefs cooperate well, and ties between the presidents also remain close.

For the planned meeting, Pukšto said the main topics should be military cooperation and security, including support for Ukraine. He also said the leaders should discuss protection of the borders with Belarus and the Kaliningrad region, cooperation on military procurement, and shared positions in the European Union and in relations with the United States. Sinkevičius could also present Lithuania’s ideas and initiatives ahead of its EU Council presidency next year.

Pukšto said the countries had also failed to make full use of opportunities for economic cooperation, and that more attention should be given to investment, trade and infrastructure.