VILNIUS, Jun 23, BNS – President Gitanas Nauseda discussed regional security issues during a phone conversation with President Andrzej Duda of Poland on Monday and the two presidents agreed that during his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump, the Polish leader will speak on behalf of Lithuania and Poland expressing an expectation of stronger US military presence in Europe.

"It is in the interest of Lithuania and Poland that the US military force not only stayed but also were more abundant in Europe. I asked the Polish President to convey this message to President Donald Trump at the meeting on June 24. Lithuania and Poland respect their key commitment regarding the allocation of 2 percent of GDP for defense, thus demonstrating our strong stance and responsibility to NATO at the national level”, the Lithuanian president said.

During the conversation, the two presidents also touched upon Russia’s policy of historical revisionism. 

"Not only our countries that were directly affected by the Soviet occupation but also our allies in the West are concerned with the processes of falsification of history. After all, the deeper historical consciousness of our Eastern neighbors is immersed in falsifications and oblivion, the more important preservation of our historic memory is," Nauseda said.

President Nauseda and President Duda also agreed that energy security was and would be a common interest of Lithuania and Poland. The Astravets nuclear power plant (NPP) built in the vicinity of Lithuania is a threat to all EU citizens and its security issues had to be addressed at the highest level in the EU institutions. Poland supports Lithuania’s position not to buy electricity from unsafe third-country power plants and is also in favor of not buying electricity from the Astravets NPP. The two leaders also discussed speeding up the synchronization project.

The Lithuanian president thanked his Polish counterpart for stronger bilateral cooperation and wished success in the forthcoming presidential elections.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +370 5 205 85 31, Vilnius newsroom