On 16 January in Vilnius, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys met with Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen. Ministers discussed bilateral relations between Lithuania and Finland, regional Nordic-Baltic cooperation, and relevant security policy issues.

Lithuania and Finland are like-minded countries, cooperating closely as trusted EU partners and NATO allies. According to Budrys, the two countries share a strong common approach to strengthening regional security and defence.

"Lithuania and Finland are close, like-minded countries, especially in the areas of security and defence. Our joint action to strengthen the eastern borders of the European Union and NATO is very important. We must work together to ensure that NATO's defence capabilities are consistently enhanced and that allies invest more in defence. We must also strongly and credibly support Ukraine, which is our immediate priority," said Minister Budrys.

Budrys highlighted the particularly effective cooperation between Lithuania and Finland in the Nordic-Baltic format, stressing that this unique regional model provides added value to the entire region by increasing resilience, strengthening coordination, and allowing for a faster response to security challenges. Budrys also expressed his expectation that such cooperation will continue to consistently strengthen and expand in many areas.

"The security of the Baltic states is inseparable from the security of Finland and the Nordic region as a whole, so a strong Baltic-Nordic partnership is the basis for regional security", said the Minister.

The Minister also emphasized the successful development of cooperation between Lithuania and Finland in the field of the defence industry. Lithuania is the fifth largest importer of Finnish defence industry production, with €16.2 million worth of imports in 2024. The Minister expressed his interest in further expanding this strategic cooperation.