13-09-2024
Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė: "Peace comes at a price"
Peace does not come for free, so it is natural to invest in the security of our country – the Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė, who recently visited South Korea, justified Lithuania’s decision to increase defence spending to above 3 % of gross domestic product (GDP) to Korean news website Chosun Daily.
"Doing nothing for the security and peace of the country is not an option. We take our safety seriously. Before russia's unprovoked war in Ukraine, our defence spending amounted to 2 % of GDP. It has now risen to 3.2 % of GDP. Discussions are ongoing so that it can be increased even more significantly in the future,” G. Skaistė states.
According to the Minister, not only the Lithuanian Government, but also the majority of the public is in favour of supporting Ukraine, because if Ukraine loses, we can become the next target of russian aggression.
Lithuania has recently been strengthening its identity as a frontline of European security. Last July, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit was held in our country, and in order to prepare for unpredictable actions of russia after its invasion of Ukraine, Lithuania's defence budget is constantly increasing, a historic consensus was reached on the permanent deployment of German troops in Lithuania.
Lithuania consistently supports Ukraine and decided to provide at least 0.25 % of GDP every year to Ukraine as military aid over the next 10 years.
“The war in Ukraine teaches us that we need to strengthen our cooperation with predictable democratic countries. We are strengthening our cooperation with democratic countries around the world, including South Korea,” the Minister of Finance says.
It should be noted that the purpose of the visit to Korea was to promote Lithuania as a European Fintech hub by inviting Korean companies to set up in Lithuania and use the country as a gateway to the European market.
The original link to the Chosun Daily interview is available here.