“I have no doubt that if the need arises, Lithuania and Poland will fight shoulder to shoulder”, Budrys said in an interview with Rzeczpospolita published on Monday.
“I cannot imagine a situation in which incidents occur in other countries, for example in Poland along our shared border, and we simply sit, wait and watch what happens next. Lithuania will come to your aid immediately”, he said.
Budrys said Lithuania’s national interests largely overlapped with Poland’s security concerns, and that he was certain cooperation between the two countries would continue.
Asked about US midterm elections due on Tuesday, he said he did not expect major changes in Washington’s foreign and security policy, noting recent months had shown continuity in its approach to allies.
“I also doubt that the results of these elections will affect the US approach to ‘front-line’ states, that is, those on NATO’s eastern flank, including Poland and Lithuania”, he said.
Budrys also said Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants NATO to be effectively dismantled”, and that European countries must therefore set out concrete demands, take the political initiative and look after their own security.
(jh)
Source: PAP