Time to Show Strength: Lithuania Calls for Stronger European Defence to Deter Russia

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda believes that NATO and the European Union should play a greater role in ensuring the security of the Baltic Sea amid recent incidents involving damage to submarine cables. He said this in an interview with AP.  

Nausėda stressed that in view of these events, ‘it is time to show muscle’.  

‘NATO and the EU should take more responsibility for the Baltic Sea by deploying additional maritime capabilities to prevent such incidents in the future,’ he said.  

The President also stressed that Lithuania must demonstrate the ability to take care of its defence on its own.  

‘It is an absolutely clear priority for our country as a frontline country that we should spend more. Of course, we can count on the support of our NATO allies. But it would be naive to expect anyone to care about our security if there are clear signs that we are not able to defend ourselves,’ Nauseda concluded.  

Meanwhile, on 26 January, Swedish prosecutors announced the launch of an investigation into alleged sabotage after the damage to the submarine fibre-optic cable connecting Latvia to the Swedish island of Gotland.  

The investigation targets the bulk carrier Vezhen, which passed the cable at 00:45 GMT on the day of the incident.  

On 31 January, Norwegian police detained a Norwegian vessel with a Russian crew on suspicion of involvement in the damage to the fibre-optic cable between Latvia and Sweden.