State Defense Council: lack of leadership in emergency management

As Darius Kuliešius, Chief Security Policy Advisor to the President and Secretary of VGT, said after the meeting, there is a need to improve emergency management in the country.

“It was stated that the current situation Lithuania is living in – a period of pandemic – is a large-scale crisis and the existing civil protection system, emergency management is insufficiently effective and needs to be improved,” said D. Kuliešius.

According to him, after the last VGT meeting in August, the concept of emergency management and its implementation plans were not developed.

“Only the draft Civil Protection Law has been prepared, which does not systematically solve the main problems and this issue of emergency and crisis management. Today, it was decided that the concept should be ready before the next VGT meeting. In the future, legislation will be needed to implement that concept, and it should be adopted in the spring session, ”said the adviser to the head of state.

According to D. Kuliešius, there is currently a lack of leadership in crisis management, so a National Crisis Management Center should be established.

“The two existing levels – the municipal level and the national level – are not sufficiently integrated with each other to make effective, fast and timely decisions”, emphasized D. Kuliešius.

“The National Crisis Management Center could be a solution that would help monitor and prepare for all potential crisis and emergency risks, so that all states and municipalities are prepared to the required level of quality. The element Management is also very important, so that it is properly integrated and there is no need to point the finger when deciding who is responsible for one or another management of situations ”, said the VGT secretary.

D. Kuliešius also emphasized that risks can be diverse, so it is necessary to ensure their effective monitoring, rapid response, preparedness and management of all institutions.

“The last period of the year has shown that the concept must be developed, because we have major crisis risks of various scales: a pandemic, we have Astrava next to us, there may also be climate change, several hybrid crises. All this preparation requires a national, coordinated and expert management, ”said the VGT secretary.

According to him, the Government, the Ministry of the Interior, would be responsible for developing the concept.

Anušauskas: Lithuania must remain as prepared as possible to react

Commenting after the VGT meeting, National Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas noted that the concept of armed defense of the state was prepared in 2015, when the Russian aggression in Ukraine took place.

“During that time, there have been many changes, considerable achievements and investments in defense. Now, after evaluating the trends in the security environment and the decisions made by the Allies and Lithuania, it can be stated that according to the new concept that is is preparing, Lithuania must remain as prepared as possible to respond quickly to military threats, both independently and together with the Allies, ”said A. Anušauskas.

According to the minister, the focus on defense will not diminish, because political decisions on financing the national defense system were made even earlier: a joint agreement of the parties was signed.

At the same time, A. Anušaukas pointed out that the coalition partner, a new political force, the Freedom Party, which had not yet been established when the different parties signed a joint agreement on the financing of the system, did not oppose the maintenance of defense funding.

He also highlighted that the advances in defense in recent years are evident.

“However, what is important is that by developing the capabilities of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, a Samogitian brigade has been established and further development of its capabilities is anticipated. The challenges have always been one of the most important in the military. : its supply, supplies, logistics, infrastructure. Some work has not been done here, something is being done, “said the Minister of National Defense.

When asked if the security situation in the region has changed in the last five years, A. Anušauskas did not hide the fact that Russia has increased its capabilities.

“Not only are new individual units being created, but also military units, military exercises that focus on attack. There are many indications that Russia has not changed its position, which was 6 years ago, so we can also review our position and concept, ”said the Minister of National Defense.

The Minister also noted that Lithuania, along with the assistance of the Allies, had also improved its security situation: it improved infrastructure, new organizational structures in the Armed Forces, developed air and ground defense capabilities and increased the number of personnel.

Kasčiūnas: it is necessary to prepare for various crises

Laurynas Kasčiūnas, chairman of the Seimas Defense and National Security Committee (NSGC), said in turn that the new National Crisis Management Center would be subordinate to the Government and the Prime Minister.

“Our country must be prepared to respond to various threats and risks. This requires a coordinated and centralized emergency and crisis management system. As you can see, even now, in the case of COVID-19 and in the first wave, instead After activating the crisis management instruments that existed at that time, several parallel structures have been created, ”said L. Kasčiūnas.

According to the NSGK president, the National Crisis Management Center should be headed by a person with political weight.

“The center would guarantee a certain level of centralization with a certain” integration “of other institutions, so that the management, analysis and planning of crises, how to respond to them, would not be a matter for the center alone, but for all the institutions involved. Therefore, a person with a high political weight should occupy the position of head of the center. I imagine a direct subordination to the Prime Minister, “said L. Kasčiūnas.

He also emphasized that the need to prepare for threats is not only due to the fact that the world is now in a pandemic, but, according to L. Kasčiūnas, it is necessary to see other risks: the Astrava nuclear power plant near the state border in Belarus, as well as other risks.

“The previous government had to develop a crisis management concept, but instead drafted amendments to the Civil Protection Law, reforms that basically leave crisis management within the Ministry of the Interior or even the Fire and Rescue Department, but not He said nothing about the centralization of all the institutions. The tests were, but not very well done, I would say. We are translating the next page and moving towards a new concept, “added L. Kasčiūnas.