Baltic states agreed to increase their defense budgets
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia intend to increase their defense budgets to more than 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. The Defense Ministers of the three countries agreed to this in their joint communique after the meeting in Vilnius on Saturday, November 24. DW reports that the document envisions cooperation in strategic communication between the Baltic States and Poland, and increasing the cyber security of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
During the two-day meeting that took place in the Lithuanian capital during the celebration of the centennial of the Lithuanian army, Raimonds Bergmanis, Raimundas Karoblis and Jüri Luik expressed their readiness to continue implementing the decisions of the NATO Summit, including increasing the response capacities of the Armed Forces and to develop operational capability.
The Baltic States expressed support for the efforts of Kyiv and Tbilisi regarding Euro-Atlantic integration and implementation of the program of the Eastern partnership. They also appreciated the creation of the Multinational Division North at the Latvian military base, Ādaži.