France is committed to the security of Lithuania and the entire Baltic region, President Emmanuel Macron said as he met with his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nausėda in Paris on Wednesday.
“France is very much in solidarity with Lithuania on this eastern flank, and I would like to reaffirm France’s strong commitment to security and stability in Lithuania and the entire Baltic region,” Macron told a joint press conference.
The French leader noted that his meeting with Nausėda was taking place in the run-up to the NATO Vilnius Summit, which is even more important as the war in Ukraine continues.
Macron also said that France “is making a major contribution to strengthening NATO’s eastern flank”, referring to the country’s participation in the alliance’s Baltic air policing mission.
The French and Lithuanian presidents also discussed air defence and assistance to Ukraine. According to Macron, France has taken new aid initiatives to provide Ukraine with ammunition and funding.
“But this is not enough; we have to act even stronger, even better, to make our support for Ukraine even stronger,” he said.
A key objective of Nausėda’s visit to Paris is to discuss the agenda of the NATO summit in Vilnius in mid-July.
The Lithuanian president has earlier visited Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal to discuss Ukraine and the security of NATO’s eastern flank in the run-up to the alliance’s meeting in Vilnius.
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