After meeting Kaja Kallas, prime minister seeks EU understanding: “We want to be heard”

Lithuania wants the European Commission to listen more closely to the security pressures facing countries on the EU’s eastern flank. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius made that appeal during talks in Vilnius with Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief and a European Commission vice-president.

The meeting focused on regional security, border reinforcement and hybrid threats. Sinkevičius said Lithuania was confronting what he described as instrumentalized migration from Belarus across the Lithuanian-Belarusian border, as well as secondary migration from Latvia. He said Lithuania was strengthening its border and expected the Commission to understand the challenges confronting eastern-flank countries.

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We want understanding from the European Commission, especially when discussing the new 2028-2034 financial perspective, so that the eastern-flank states are truly heard about the challenges they face.

“We want understanding from the European Commission, especially when discussing the new 2028-2034 financial perspective, so that the eastern-flank states are truly heard about the challenges they face,” Sinkevičius said.

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We clearly see the threats, the hybrid attacks and incidents that no longer have a distance dimension.

He also pointed to what he called increasingly visible hybrid attacks and incidents. “We clearly see the threats, the hybrid attacks and incidents that no longer have a distance dimension,” he said, adding that more countries, particularly Germany recently, were experiencing them. He said Europe was developing a clearer understanding of threats from Russia and Belarus.

Kallas said she fully supported efforts to strengthen Europe’s defense, protect democracies from external interference and hybrid threats, and ensure that Europe could act when necessary. “Your experience must help shape the common EU response,” she said. She also warned that Europe should prepare for more provocations, saying, “We are likely to see more attacks like those in Leipzig. We must be prepared to respond to them.”

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Your experience must help shape the common EU response.

Kallas described Lithuania’s border security as a shared European responsibility. She called for faster implementation of the eastern-flank guard, closer cooperation with NATO and continued sanctions pressure. She also said Lithuania was setting an example for other EU countries through its record defense spending. The talks also covered European Commission initiatives and support for Ukraine.

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We are likely to see more attacks like those in Leipzig. We must be prepared to respond to them.