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Lithuania and Denmark aim for a strong, secure, and enlarged European Union

On 4 March, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Sigitas Mitkus met with the Minister for European Affairs of Denmark Marie Bjerre, who visited Vilnius to discuss the priorities of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2025, support for Ukraine, regional and European security, and items on the EU agenda.

“Support for Ukraine and striving for a sustainable and just peace, as well as the security of our region and Europe, remain key priorities. We must increase and accelerate military, financial, and political support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia's brutal aggression. Lithuania, Denmark, and other Nordic and Baltic countries are the largest providers of military support for Ukraine after the United States. Lithuania believes that the best security guarantee for Ukraine is its membership in NATO. We support the acceleration of Ukraine’s EU accession procedure. We are also glad that Lithuania and Denmark will jointly implement the European programme (EU Integration Support Facility Ukraine2EU), which aims to support Ukraine’s EU accession path,” Mitkus said.

The Foreign Vice-Minister underlined that the upcoming Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU would take place at a crucial time for the whole of Europe and in the face of fundamental challenges. The Foreign Vice-Minister underlined that the priorities of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU – security and defence, support for Ukraine, the EU enlargement, new decisions on migration policy, and increasing the competitiveness of the EU while maintaining the focus on the green agenda – coincided with Lithuania’s key interests. In addition, Mitkus expressed Lithuania’s determination to cooperate closely with Denmark on all these issues.

"The unity of the EU and maintaining cooperation with the United States are of paramount importance at this time", noted Mitkus, stressing the need for urgent solutions regarding EU funding for security and defence. The Ministers discussed the preparations of the Special European Council on 6 March, which will focus on continued support for Ukraine and European defence. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is invited to the meeting.  The Ministers started preparations for the European Council meeting of 20-21 March. Mitkus also emphasised the importance of investments in Ukraine's defence industry, thwarting Russia's ability to continue its war through sanctions, using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine's needs, as well as the importance of strengthening critical infrastructure protection and resilience to hybrid threats. The meeting also addressed the issues of strengthening the EU's competitiveness and economic resilience and highlighted the need to pay more attention to the countries facing military threats from Russia and Belarus.

Bjerre also presented the priorities of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU at a meeting of the European Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, visited the National Crisis Management Centre, and got acquainted with the protection of the EU and NATO's external border at the Lithuanian state border with Belarus.

This year, Denmark coordinates the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) cooperation. The country also serves as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council in 2025-2026.