Lithuania’s parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution underlining the need to invite Ukraine to join NATO. The resolution passed unanimously with the votes of 129 lawmakers present in the chamber, according to a statement by the legislature, also known as Seimas. It also outlined Lithuania’s five objectives in hosting the upcoming NATO heads of state summit scheduled for July 11-12 in the capital Vilnius. The resolution called for Lithuania to “fully support Ukraine with practical measures, including NATO’s political support, recognizing that it is necessary to invite Ukraine to become a NATO member state at the NATO summit to be held in Vilnius.” It said the country would also seek to “significantly strengthen the forward defense and deterrence of the Baltic region and the entire eastern part of NATO,” in addition to increasing the presence of permanent NATO forces and strengthening integrated air and anti-missile defense in the region. The resolution welcomed Finland’s official membership to NATO on Tuesday, noting that Vilnius would “actively contribute to achieving the fastest possible ratification of the protocols of Sweden’s accession to NATO in Hungary and Trkiye before the NATO summit in Vilnius.” Lithuania will also seek commitment from fellow NATO allies to raise national defense funding to at least 2% of their gross domestic product from 2025, as well as to expand and strengthen cooperation between NATO and Indo-Pacific states, notably in the areas of technology and cyber defense. “If we want to achieve results that not only we, but also our Ukrainian brothers and sisters would be proud of, we must act as one fist,” head of the parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs Zygimantas Pavilionis said, according to the statement.
Source: Anadolu Agency – English