Lithuanian president to discuss European defense, Ukraine peace talks with EU Leaders

VILNIUS - Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda is heading to Brussels on Thursday to meet with European Union leaders to discuss bolstering European defense, boosting competitiveness, and supporting Ukraine.

The day before the summit, the European Commission unveiled the bloc's defense roadmap - the so-called White Paper - and part of its defense enhancement plan.

The Commission proposes to ease the bloc's fiscal rules and allow member states to allocate significantly more funding to defense. Estimates suggest that this measure could help free up 650 billion euros over four years.

The bloc's executive body also proposes to provide member states with up to 150 billion euros in EU-backed loans.

In response to the tense geopolitical situation and uncertainty surrounding US foreign and defense policy, EU leaders gave political approval to bolstering the bloc's defense during their summit in early March.