Lietuvos nacionalinės gynybos politika. Balansavimas tarp įsipareigojimų ir poreikių ; Lithuania's national defence policy. balancing between commitments and needs

Abstract

This paper analyses how events in 2014 Ukraine changed Lithuania's national defence policy. It defines factors such as Russia and NATO, that lead Lithuania to turn back on reinforcement of territorial defence and also has indicated how those changes modified international military commitments. Main question is: does Lithuania balance between international commitments and needs? Analysing few things: first, Russian foreign policy and threats that it creates; second, threat assessment reports by Lithuania's intelligence services; third, changes in Lithuania's military strategy; and finaly – NATO transformation, have shown that Lithuania did not turn away from international military commitment. Vice versa – Lithuania increased multilateral and bilateral cooperation. Support from allies is perceived as main security guarantee. But by changing national defence policy Lithuania has faced new threats that requires modern improvement. Lithuania does not balance between international commitments and territorial defence. Lithuania balances between threats by deciding how to prioritize them.