Budrys: Deterrence always costs less than warActivities of the Minister of Foreign AffairsNews of the MinistrySituation in Ukraine

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On 23 May, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys, spoke at the GLOBSEC forum in the panel "Victory for Ukraine, Europe and the World: What are the Essentials?"

The Minister underlined that the world is facing an exceptional period of instability today - Russia, China, and Iran are systematically challenging the established rules-based order, and if their test were to be successful, there would be no winners. The world would be a more dangerous, more fragmented, and less predictable world. According to Budrys, Ukraine is the cornerstone of European security architecture in this context.

Budrys emphasized that Ukraine defends the future of Europe and the very idea of a rules-based international order; therefore, what is happening in Ukraine is a test of the security of the entire European continent.

"Europe's future is being decided now, and, namely, in Ukraine. The cost of Ukraine's defeat would be incomparably higher than the current investment in its defence. Helping Ukraine today means avoiding much bigger conflicts tomorrow - deterrence always costs less than war," said Budrys.

The Minister said that Ukraine's membership of the European Union is the strongest long-term non-military security guarantee both for Ukraine itself and for Europe as a whole. According to Budrys, Ukraine's integration into Euro-Atlantic structures must remain a strategic priority - any departure from this path would be a serious mistake with consequences for the whole of Europe.

The Minister also said that one of the key issues for the future of European security was Europe's ability to strengthen its defence and ensure effective deterrence.

"To preserve peace, we need to act quickly, in a coordinated and effective manner. Larger budgets alone will not solve the problem: they must translate into real capacity and capacity into a credible deterrence system. If we want to really deter, we must not only talk about unity, but also be able to produce more, faster, and more efficiently than our enemy. Strengthening the defence industry is not a choice but a necessity", said the Minister.

Photos: GLOBSEC