The essential purpose of the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius is to address geopolitical problems, not to increase Lithuania’s visibility, President Gitanas Nauseda has said.
“The NATO summit is an attempt to address the problems gathering around us. To respond to the complicated geopolitical situation, to be worthy of those challenges, which we face in terms of security,” he told reporters on Monday when asked whether Lithuania might expect to benefit from the increased visibility.
According to Nausėda, it is meaningful and symbolic that the NATO summit will take place 30 kilometres from the border with Belarus, a country involved in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We are not holding the NATO summit for publicity. If it leads to more visibility for Lithuania, spreads the word about Lithuania around the world, we will of course be happy about that,” he said.
The NATO summit in Vilnius – the first ever to be hosted by Lithuania – will take place on July 11–12.
Lithuania expects that NATO's leaders will decide at the Vilnius summit to consolidate the principles of forward defence, which will form the basis for deploying more troops in the region, and agree on a membership pathway for Ukraine.
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