Lithuania is considering purchasing military equipment, including Patria armoured personnel carriers from Finland, President Gitanas Nausėda said in a video comment released by his office on Tuesday.
“We are talking about mines, ships, other military equipment, and we are considering purchasing armoured vehicles from the Finnish manufacturer Patria,” he said
A Patria APC model is already jointly developed by Finland and Latvia, with a number of units handed over to Ukraine as part of a military aid package.
On September 2, Nausėda opened a business forum in Finland, which, according to the president, was attended by about 50 representatives of Lithuanian businesses and about 200 representatives of Finnish companies.
“There are points of interest, and I really want my visit to contribute to the strengthening of economic ties, not only defence ties, but also economic ties between our two countries,” Nausėda said.
Reuters reported in early July that Lithuania and Finland are set to start domestic production of anti-personnel landmines next year, aiming to supply themselves and Ukraine.
The two countries, which border Russia, have withdrawn from the Ottawa Convention banning the use of such mines, and officials quoted by the news agency said that production could be launched once the six-month withdrawal process is completed.
“We are going to spend hundreds of millions of euros on anti-tank mines, but also on anti-personnel mines. It will be a significant amount," Lithuanian Deputy Defence Minister Karolis Aleksa told Reuters at the time, adding that tens of thousands of anti-personnel mines would be ordered.
The Defence Ministry said in comments sent to BNS that Lithuania will begin official talks on the acquisition or production of anti-personnel mines once its withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention takes effect on December 27.
The State Defense Council has decided that Lithuania will need to allocate an additional 12 to 13 billion euros for defence by 2030 to establish the country’s first military division that will group new and existing units, as well as procure new equipment and prepare to host the German brigade. That would raise defence spending to between 5 and 6 percent of GDP.
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