Funding for Lithuania’s intelligence agencies should grow alongside military spending, says MP Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence.
“National defence funding is growing […]. So, we should have a similar trajectory to boost the activities of intelligence agencies,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
His view was echoed by another National Security and Defence Committee member and acting Defence Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas.
“Yes, it should,” he said briefly when asked whether more funding for intelligence should be allocated in the next year’s government spending plan.
The 2025 state budget bill includes an increase of 2.5 million euros in funding for the State Security Department (VSD), which will total a little over 53 million.
However, the financial projection for the subsequent two years foresees the VSD budget shrinking significantly – to 47.6 million euros in 2026 and 47.8 million euros in 2027.
The VSD has been publicly advocating for more funding, saying it necessary in “the changing national security environment” amid russia’s war in Ukraine and hybrid attacks in Europe.
VSD chief Darius Jauniškis has requested a funding increase of at least 15 million euros.
“Our intelligence and counter-intelligence services are an integral part of our national defence ecosystem. When we strengthen our national defence, our defence, our army, we have to do the same with our intelligence,” MP Jeglinskas said, adding that without sufficient funding for intelligence, it will be difficult to compete with the intelligence services of Russia, Belarus, and China.
The National Security and Defence Committee has urged the government to provide more funding for the VSD in next year’s budget.
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