G. Skaistė: "Lithuania appreciates Germany's plans to contribute to regional security and is doing its homework"
Minister of Finance of Germany Christian Lindner is visiting Vilnius today, where he had a meeting with Minister of Finance of Lithuania Gintarė Skaistė. During the bilateral meeting, the Ministers discussed the review of the European Union (EU) long-term budget, EU support to Ukraine, reform of EU fiscal rules, EU sanctions policy, as well as bilateral cooperation between Lithuania and Germany in the economic, security and other areas.
"Germany is one of Lithuania's most important strategic and economic partners. It is also our strong NATO ally, and we highly value its role in strengthening security of the region. We are consistently investing in the strengthening of Lithuania's national defence – next year we expect a 2.71 % of GDP funding to defence, and in four years defence funding has doubled, from EUR 1 billion to EUR 2 billion per year. Part of the funds provided for in the 2024 budget will be specifically allocated to the preparation of infrastructure and military facilities in order to receive the troops of the allies, primarily the German brigade, as soon as possible," noted Minister G. Skaistė.
The bilateral meeting of the Ministers focused on the review of the long-term EU budget and the need to make a decision in the near future on the allocation of EUR 50 billion financial support to Ukraine in 2024 and subsequent years. The need to further strengthen the EU sanctions regime against russia and Belarus and to ensure the effective implementation of sanctions was also discussed.
"Clarity about the policy of support scope and conditions is important for both Ukrainians and Western partners. It is necessary to ensure that funding for Ukraine does not decrease and that the funds reach the warring country on time. We also need to move forward with decisions to further expand sanctions on russia and, accordingly, to level them on the accomplice of the aggressor, Belarus. In addition, the effective implementation of sanctions is extremely important – we must focus on this both at the EU level and on strengthening bilateral cooperation," noted Minister G. Skaistė.
The Ministers also discussed the revision of the EU fiscal rules and the need to increase the efficiency of the implementation of the rules in order to reduce debts in part of the EU countries and maintain a sustainable level of debt in low-indebted states. The need to provide some limited flexibility for countries' investments in the development of defence capabilities in the current geopolitical environment was also considered.
The ongoing EU long-term budget review was also discussed at the meeting, including the need to provide for additional EU-level funding for military mobility projects, as well as Lithuanian-German bilateral economic cooperation.
Last updated: 14-11-2023
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