Lithuanian priorities in the field of security and defence were introduced to members of the Swedish Atlantic Council
In capacity of NATO Contact Point Embassy, the Embassy of Lithuania in Sweden on the 29th of January, 2014 organised a meeting with the members of the Swedish Atlantic Council (SAC). During the event Ambassador of Lithuania in Sweden Eitvydas Bajarūnas presented Lithuanian security and defence priorities as well as the most relevant issues of NATO and the EU security and defence policy agendas. The cooperation in the field of security and defence among Nordic and Baltic countries was one of the major topics during the meeting. In the meeting, that took place in the Ambassador’s residency in Stockholm, the guests included more than 30 members of SAC, who previously worked as diplomats, security and defence experts or journalists writing on defence topics. SAC Secretary-General Ambassador Mats Åberg and the President of SAC Ambassador Michael Sahlin provided information on the activities of their organisation. Ambassador E.Bajarūnas noticed that Lithuania celebrates its 10th anniversary of the membership in NATO and an event to mark this occasion is being planned in Stockholm. In addition, the Ambassador was glad that the cooperation between Sweden and NATO is further improving and noted the importance of Sweden’s accession to NATO Rapid Reaction Forces (NRF). E.Bajarūnas also recalled that NATO Energy Security Centre in Vilnius is operational since the 1st January, 2013, is also open to NATO partners including Sweden.
Ambassador emphasised that while regional political and economic cooperation is getting stronger the cooperation between Nordic and Baltic countries in security and defence is becoming more and more important. Nordic and Baltic countries encounter similar threats and problems, thus bigger regional integration, especially in the field of security and defence, would contribute to more efficient solutions. Additionally, he noted that strengthened cooperation between Nordic and Baltic countries in the field of defence should not be made at expense of NATO, which remains the main security guarantee for Lithuania and other Baltic States, cooperation. It should supplement each other. E.Bajarūnas pointed out that positive thing is that Nordic and Baltic are getting involved in joint implementation of various practical projects in the field of crisis management, joint exercises, air transportation, cyber security and other areas.
During the meeting, further cooperation perspectives were discussed and it was also agreed to organise such meetings regularly in the future.
SAC is a non-political organisation aiming at promoting serious, wide and without prejudice discussions about security in Sweden, concentrating on Sweden’s (as an EU state member’s) safety situation and goals, on transatlantic security cooperation in Europe and beyond. SAC organises conferences, study tours, is occupied in providing information and publishing reports.
