President urges Lithuania to make use of EU defense plan and arm itself

VILNIUS - As the European Commission on Wednesday unveiled the bloc's defense roadmap, the so-called White Paper, and some of the measures in its defense reinforcement plan, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says Lithuania should take advantage of the financial resources offered and arm itself.

"Lithuania has quite a low level of national debt to GDP ratio, so we have fiscal room of maneuver to use this financial resource and arm ourselves," the president told reporters ahead of the European Council meeting on Thursday.

The Commission proposed relaxing the bloc's fiscal rules and to allow countries to spend much more on defense and exclude 1.5 percent of their GDP spent on defense from their national budget deficits. This measure could free up 650 billion euros over the next four years.

The EC also proposes to provide member states with up to 150 billion euros in EU-backed loans.

"In the medium term, it is important to use this precious time that Ukraine is buying for us in order to strengthen our military capabilities, and I welcome the European Commission's proposal. Rearm Europe, we have to rearm ourselves because otherwise we will be the next victim of Russian aggression," the Lithuanian leader said.

In addition to strengthening its defenses, Europe must continue providing its military aid to Kyiv, set a date for Ukraine's EU membership for January 1, 2030, and increase pressure on Russia by introducing the 17 sanction package by including liquefied gas exports and more Russian banks.

In response to the tense geopolitical situation and the uncertainty of US foreign and defense policy, EU leaders gave political consent to strengthen the bloc's defense during their meeting in early March.