“The State Defence Council has proposed that the government should envisage additional 150 million euros of funding when drafting next year’s budget draft for the Ministry of National Defence,” Valdemaras Sarapinas, national security adviser to Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė, told journalists on Friday after the council’s meeting.
The council has also suggested raising the number of professional troops by 1,000 next year, establish the second brigade of Land Forces. It decided to purchase infantry combat machines, self-propelled howitzers and other equipment next year.
“A decision was made on additional investment in development of military infrastructure and training grounds, upgrade of cyber and information security,” Sarapinas said.
In his words, the 2015-2021 concept of armed state defence envisages directions of organization of the country’s Armed Forces and army development priorities.
“The president says Lithuania should be capable of defending itself independently, as well as ensuring proper hosting of Allies and performing collective defence operations,” the adviser cited Grybauskaitė as saying.
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