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– Mr. Anušauskas, first of all about the Zapad exercise, it is the most important part of our conversation. In the spring of this year, intelligence warned that there could be both provocations and incidents during the exercise. Were they that fixed?
– See if it is directly related to exercise or not. If we relate to exercise, I would say no. On the other hand, the exercises themselves were done for a week, they lasted for several months. It is simply an active phase, the last, most demonstrative in which the presidents are involved, and in this case Vladimir Putin and Aliaksandr Lukashenko spoke, we saw the airborne exercise, we demonstrated more visible things to them. This active phase has ended and the return of these military units to permanent deployments is underway.
Were there provocative actions during this period? There were, but no one directly associates it with exercise. But, for example, when Russian military planes violated Lithuanian airspace while observing the exercises of our military forces and allies, I would say that this is not related to Zapad, but when the aviation of another country, monitoring and acting, apparently invades another country. of the country, it is always seen as a provocation. They never lead to good, so even during the active phase, we have always said that there can be provocations, but we don’t want them to be.
– But if there was a period of active phase from last Friday until today, – were there incidents and provocations, right now?
– I should note that the exercises themselves, their active phase, took place far from the border with Lithuania, some of the active stages of the exercises took place, for example, in the Barents Sea. They took place very far from the border with Lithuania, near Brest, about two hundred kilometers from the border with Lithuania. < ... > Therefore, it did not touch Lithuania directly, very close. But we do know that there are things that are more related to the planning of military operations, and it is not necessary to be right on the borders of Lithuania, Poland or Latvia to train for aggressive actions against these countries.
The scenario for the exercise itself, the scratched map, looked very strange. If before they drew all maps only within their territories, now all of eastern Lithuania has been captured. This is a scenario, imaginary, conditional things, but still, let’s say, he trains to attack on the territory of Lithuania and Poland.
– Can you say that this is a provocation?
– It can be said that Russia continues to demonstrate its capabilities, its military power and exerts pressure on the countries of the region. We resist that pressure, all the more so because we have the support of the allies and a fairly active support, because there are Americans and Germans and other allies in Lithuania during this exercise.
There are always about 2,000 allies in Lithuania. This is an important indicator during this period, because the Allies, as a rule, also have certain capabilities that they bring here together, which is a good reinforcement for our defense.
– Before the interview, he spoke about the period he is waiting now, theoretically 30 days, when the forces return to the deployment sites. How do you evaluate this period, what risks do you see, if you pay attention to it, as much as during exercise?
– < … > In principle, this exercise ended with, I would say, a strong but not military accent, a statement from Lavrov, who probably added to the generalization of the exercise for the first time. He said that if NATO withdrew its capabilities from the borders of Russia and Belarus, presumably the leading battalions that emerged from Russia’s aggressive foreign and military policy towards Ukraine, countries in the region, Russia might consider increasing transparency.
< … > In a word, we run out of allies, and then they will think about reviewing the documents. And they are not talking about reducing their military activity in the Kaliningrad region, for example, because they think that everything is in order there, on their territory, doing what they want. So this was an interesting statement in this case.
– And what does it mean that for the first time Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov summed it all up?
– It was already seen during the exercise – on the one hand, the desire to show that they have power, use it, mobilize it, launch it. But apparently we wanted to get some political dividends after the exercise; We seemed to be demonstrating, and now maybe we can talk about other political things as well. They show themselves as an aggressive country that seeks political dialogue.
– Let’s talk about the people who were flown from Afghanistan to Lithuania: the translators and their families. 600 thousand were allocated for its provision, maintenance and accommodation. euros. I know there is a much larger problem here, not just their ministry, but when can these Afghans be granted asylum?
– More precisely, of course, the Migration Department would reply, but our ambition is that they are granted asylum as soon as possible and that they can travel freely wherever they want in October. Because some have, for example, work permits in other Western countries, they have relatives, also in other Western countries. Some want to stay here and have job offers.
– Do you speak Lithuanian?
– No, but there are still those who try to speak Lithuanian and understand Lithuanian. To really feel your efforts to integrate here. Unlike, perhaps, illegal immigrants.
– Allocated 600 thousand. euros. Will more funds be needed?
– In this case – no, the money is allocated for a longer period, hoping that it may be necessary and that there is no need to return to the Government’s resolution. A smaller portion of these funds has been used, so it may not be necessary to use all of them.
– Anyone from NATO countries or people who have helped us in Afghanistan since then?
– Of course, applied. However, now we don’t have the opportunity to bring them from Kabul, they have the opportunity to get to certain places from where they could come to Lithuania or those places would be outside of Afghanistan.
– I would like to go back a bit to the strategy of the European Union. On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen emphasized strategic autonomy, so to speak. He spoke a little less about the partners, the United States, and proposed a defense summit, the European Defense Union. What do you think of this leadership of the European Union?
– I would say that a defense summit is always a good thing. The participation of the European Union is always welcome, but there is also a strong counterargument at the European Union defense ministers meeting, wherever it takes place, when it comes to strategic autonomy: strategic autonomy requires a very strong investment.
If the European Union invested as much in defense as the United States, our strategic partner in Europe, then we could speak of strategic autonomy. Now, without the capacity of the United States in Europe, next to Europe, in the world in general, there is no need to speak of autonomy. The European Union simply shouldn’t change that capacity.
– The next National Defense Council (VGT) will meet in October. There, of course, there was talk of migration, of a hybrid attack, but there may also be a question of Mali, of sending our special operations troops there. Thinking of the special operations soldiers, of the elite forces, what is your position? Should they be sent? I remember that Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, asked for support in July.
– In support, yes. I think Lithuania will definitely make that decision. The final decision on participation, when the VGT is already considering, travels to the Seimas: the Seimas adopts a resolution on participation in operations.
In this case, there is a willingness to participate, and the French side has outlined what support is needed. And, I must say, when operations of this scale are carried out, the main support is focused on logistical and medical issues.
If anyone thinks that special forces are paramount, then yes, they are also necessary, but as the situation changes both in Mali and throughout the region, the emphasis has already been placed elsewhere.
– Be completely clear at the end of the conversation. What is your position on the special forces? Should they be sent to Mali or not?
– First of all, I must say that I will not answer this question now. We will be able to argue after VGT, I will never lose sight of it. But special operations forces are always used and are not left without work in international operations.
Those opportunities are there, and when the transaction approval process begins, you will be informed.
You can find the full interview and most current recordings of the show 15/15 in the video gallery.
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