Lithuania's Former Finance Minister Calls for Increase in Military Budget

Former Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste stated that current funding is insufficient to fully develop the country's defense potential. According to her, the recently allocated €87 million is not a dramatic sum compared to Vilnius's overall spending and ambitions.

Skaiste believes that Lithuania must urgently allocate greater funds to developing its national air defense system, including modernizing mobile systems and purchasing new ones.

For context, the Lithuanian authorities have already planned to increase defense spending to nearly 5.4% of GDP and earmarked a record €4.8 billion for military needs in this year's budget.