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At the Young Atlanticist Summit, which is taking place along the sidelines of the NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis noted that the Alliance had grown and strengthened, however, in order to secure safe future also for younger generations, it was necessary to gradually pass the responsibility for the security of the North Atlantic community on to the current youth.

Ažubalis is attending the Young Atlanticist Summit, dedicated to modern security challenges, along with Estonian Foreign Minister and Defence Ministers from the Czech Republic and Norway. Youth representatives from all NATO countries and some partner countries are taking part in the event.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister said that NATO was changing and adapting to the modern world - the number and geography of NATO countries changed, other functions were assumed in addition to that of collective defence, for example, international security was strengthened through operations, the cooperation network with partners in the field of security expanded.

When commenting on the issues of NATO-Russia relations and missile defence, Ažubalis, stressed that the Cold War doctrine, claiming that the basis for international security was mutually assured destruction, was already outdated and Russia had to give it up.

Youth representatives took interest in NATO relations with Russia, issues of energy security, activities of the Energy Security Centre in Lithuania and the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic States, which was named at the NATO Summit in Chicago as one of the best examples of smart defence.