“The national defence minister today presented his vision on prioritisation of solutions as regards stepping up defence. I would not say that this significantly affects the extent of the challenge – we are nonetheless discussing how to reach 3% of GDP national defence funding,” said the head of Government.
“The sequence of acquisitions proposed by the Ministry of National Defence is now planned slightly differently. Perhaps it can be explained and defended easier,” said Šimonytė.
The defence minister on Wednesday suggested that Lithuania should establish one tank company instead of a tank brigade and focus more on air defence. However, tank capabilities would be increased gradually by creating additional companies until a brigade-sized unit is reached.