On 24 April in Vilnius, high-level international conference to strengthen Europe's eastern border
Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine calls for new decisions to ensure the resilience and security of the European Union’s eastern border, not only in the military but also in the economic and financial spheres. This is what the Ministers of Finance and Economy of the Eastern European countries, representatives of the European Commission and international financial institutions, as well as political and financial experts will discuss at the conference “Strengthening Economic and Financial Resilience of the EU Eastern Border – Search for Strategic and Coordinated Actions” on 24 April 2026 in Vilnius.
Registration for the Conference is available on the conference website: easternborderconference.eu.
During the first panel discussion "Addressing Challenges Faced by EU Eastern Border Countries", Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, together with Minister of Economic Affairs of Finland Sakari Puisto, Minister of Finance and Economy of Poland Andrzej Domański, Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko, Minister of Finance of Estonia Jürgen Ligi, Minister of Finance of Latvia Arvils Aseradens and Minister of Finance of Lithuania Kristupas Vaitiekūnas will discuss the extraordinary challenges faced by the EU Eastern border states, including the impact on the economy, critical infrastructure, public security and resilience.
Lithuania, together with other Eastern border states, managed to get the EC to pay attention to the extraordinary situation of the 9 Eastern border states of the EU. On 18 February 2026, the EC published a communication setting out a package of cross-cutting measures to strengthen the EU’s eastern regions bordering Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The document also provides for the possibility of using different financial instruments, including the potential of the EU financial framework 2028-2034. Participants in the debate will address the key challenge now of how to combine and implement in a coordinated manner the most effective decisions that will bring the greatest benefits in terms of strengthening the resilience and economy of the Eastern border region.
In the second panel discussion, André Küüsvek, President of the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), Robert de Groot, Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Ari Jónsson, President of the NATO Innovation Fund, Tomasz Husak, Director of Defence Policy, Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), Roland Chai, President of Nasdaq European Markets, Guntram Wolff, Senior Research Fellow at the Bruegel Institute and representatives of other financial institutions will discuss strengthening European defence and security in the changing environment of defence financing.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine has fundamentally changed Europe’s approach to financing defence needs. If in the past it was more of a national concern, now it is a shared pan-European responsibility, requiring not only political will, but also significant, consistent and better coordinated financial resources", K. Vaitiekūnas stressed, adding that in this context, financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and other public and private entities are gaining an increasingly important role, and the boundaries between civilian, dual-use and defence investments are increasingly blurred.
The conference will take place on 24 April from 9:00 to 13:30 at Radisson Blue Hotel Lietuva (Konstitucijos pr. 20, Vilnius, Lithuania). The detailed agenda is available at: easternborderconference.eu.
Last updated: 24-04-2026
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