"Today, Europe stands with Lithuania. Lithuania is a frontline state – you face Russia in Kaliningrad, you share a border with Belarus, you live under geopolitical and economic pressure, and you face military and hybrid threats – Lithuania knows very well what the instrumentalisation of illegal migration means," said Ursula von der Leyen.
The EC President said she had heard that two drones had crossed the Lithuanian border with Belarus last month.
"I want to assure you that when Lithuania is tested, the whole of Europe is tested. We are with you in every way possible," she emphasised.
The EC President indicated that the new long-term EU budget will provide additional funding to Member States bordering Russia and Belarus.
Ursula von der Leyen said that a threefold increase in spending on migration and border protection has been proposed.
"It is in Europe's interest to have border protection here, because Europe's borders are a shared responsibility. Lithuania's border is Europe's border," the EC President emphasised.
In the long term, it is also proposed to allocate five times more spending on defence investments and ten times more on army mobility measures.
At the same time, Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged that Europe "cannot wait for a new budget – it must act now."
The EC President therefore recalled the European Security Action Programme (SAFE), a loan instrument that provides EUR 150 billion in concessional loans for the purchase of defence equipment.
Von der Leyen said that 19 EU countries have already applied for these loans, including Lithuania.
Lithuania has applied for a loan
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that Lithuania will seek a EUR 8 billion loan from this instrument for defence purposes. According to the country's leader, these investments would strengthen national defence and the Baltic defence line, as well as allow support for Ukraine.
"The SAFE instrument is vital at this time. Lithuania has applied for an EUR 8 billion loan, of which EUR 7 billion will be allocated to the creation and development of our national division by 2030, and another EUR 1 billion will be allocated to strengthening our border protection by developing the Baltic defence line together with our neighbour Poland," said Nausėda.
During the press conference, Nausėda also recalled two instances of uncrewed aircraft crossing the Lithuanian border, emphasising once again that the task of protecting Europe's external borders is both urgent and long-term.
"Lithuania understands that the current situation is hazardous and very fragile. We must be able to detect unidentified unmanned aircraft that occasionally cross our border and shoot them down, if necessary," emphasised Nausėda.
Also, von der Leyen reiterated that EUR 800 billion is planned to be freed up for European defence in the coming years under the ReArm Europe plan.
The plan provides for a budget deficit exemption, allowing EU countries to exclude 1.5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) spent on defence over four years, and EUR 150 billion in total value of SAFE defence loans. EU countries have been able to apply for the EUR 150 billion defence loan fund since the end of May.
According to the Ministry of Finance, Lithuania and other countries will have to submit their defence investment plans to the EC by the end of November.
The final amount of SAFE loans for Lithuania will be determined after the EC has approved this plan and thoroughly assessed the compliance of Lithuania's planned activities with the provisions of the SAFE Regulation.