Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and Czech President Petr Pavel, who arrived in Lithuania on a state visit, visited the Lithuanian-Belarusian border at the border outpost in Padvarėnai.
Nausėda stressed that the eastern border of the EU and NATO is an area of systematic hybrid threats from the Russian and Belarusian regimes.
“For several years now we have been facing repeated attacks that we assess as organized and systematic hybrid operations. The goal of these operations is destabilization, creating disruptions and testing our resilience. And not only in Lithuania, but throughout the region,” the Lithuanian leader’s press service quoted him as saying.
At the outpost, the presidents reviewed the situation regarding the prevention of violations of Lithuania’s airspace and efforts to counter illegal migration.
Pavel noted that, unlike Czechia, which is surrounded by allies, Lithuania and Latvia stand on the front line of European security.
“While Czechia is surrounded by allies, Lithuania and Latvia are on the front line of defending European security and face hybrid pressure from Russia and Belarus. They experience not only airspace violations but also abuses in the form of illegal migration and massive disinformation campaigns,” he wrote on Facebook.
The leaders of the two countries also agreed that Russia remains a long-term threat to Europe’s security and pledged to support strengthening the eastern flank of the EU and NATO. Both presidents expressed the view that the new EU budget should reflect the growing security needs, especially for countries on the union’s eastern border.
The visit to the border took place on the day marking the 27th anniversary of Czechia’s accession to NATO.
