Budrys meets with the Dutch Foreign Minister

On 16 December in The Hague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, David van Weel. The Ministers discussed bilateral security and defence cooperation, support for Ukraine and the response to hybrid threats.

Budrys thanked the Netherlands for a contribution to the security of Lithuania and the entire Baltic region and stressed the need to further strengthen the deterrence and defence capabilities of NATO's eastern flank and invited the Netherlands to deploy rotational air defence capabilities in Lithuania.

"The security of the NATO frontline is the security of the Alliance as a whole. The deployment of additional air defence and surveillance capabilities in Lithuania sends a clear deterrence signal to both Russia and Belarus and strengthens NATO's readiness to defend every centimetre of the Allied territory," Budrys said.

Referring to hybrid threats, especially from Belarus, Budrys informed his Dutch counterpart about recent incidents involving airspace violations and the use of smuggler balloons.

"Hybrid attacks cannot be seen as isolated incidents - they are a deliberate strategy of hostile regimes. NATO and the EU must respond quickly, visibly and proportionately," Budrys said.
The Ministers agreed to continue close dialogue and coordinate Lithuania's and the Netherlands' actions within the NATO and European Union formats in order to strengthen regional, Euro-Atlantic security and economic resilience.