“We, Lithuania and the Baltic States, must refute these myths about our inability to defend ourselves. We are defending ourselves because we will defend not only our territory. The problem is not the Suvalki Corridor, but the opportunities that Kaliningrad has,” RBC quoted the foreign minister as saying in reference to this interview.
The Suwalki Corridor is an isthmus about 100 kilometers long between the territories of Belarus and the Kaliningrad region, which actually runs along the border of Poland and Lithuania, separating the Baltic States from the rest of NATO members. Lithuania is obliged to keep the corridor open to Russian traffic.
The minister added that this confidence should be broadcast to Western partners so that they see “not only nightmare scenarios” but also the investment attractiveness of the Baltics.
“The message is: we know what to do and we do not hesitate: we will act when necessary. The most important thing is deterrence, because deterrence ensures peace,” Budrys concluded.
Last week, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister said that NATO has the capability to strike Russian military facilities in Kaliningrad if necessary.
“We have to show the Russians that we can break into the small fortress” they have built in Kaliningrad,” he said.
“Not goodwords.”
At the same time, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called Budrys’ words about Kaliningrad “not the most successful”. “Reasoning about hypothetical scenarios has begun, which may be suitable for a security expert but not quite appropriate for a foreign minister,” he said.
Russia also responded to the Lithuanian minister’s words. The head of the Kaliningrad region, Aleksei Besprozvannykh, assured that the region’s residents and authorities were calm about threats from Lithuania because they were convinced of their security.
The Kaliningrad region has no land borders with other Russian regions. It borders only with two EU states: in the north and east – with Lithuania (the border is 280.5 km long), in the south – with Poland (232 km).
At the same time, as Euronews notes, before today’s visit to Lithuania, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said that “Russia’s public threats to the Baltic States are absolutely unacceptable.”
