Madam Chair, honourable members,
I would like to thank you for this historic debate, as I said at the very beginning.
Really, it’s very symbolic that we have this debate on this special day, both for me and my Lithuanian colleagues here in the Parliament and for the whole Lithuanian nation, on this, Lithuania’s Independence Day
In 1990 we regained our independence after 50 years of occupation by the Soviet empire. My message on this day is very clear: We Lithuanians don’t want to go through the same in the 21st century, another occupation and another Independence Day.
I don’t want my sons and my grandkids kids to face it, and I don’t want you in the left, in the center, in the right, kids and grandkids to face the fate of Ukrainian children.
That is why I wish all Lithuanians happy Independence Day from the 1990s.
And to all my friends in Europe, I want to say: independence is easy to lose but very hard to regain.
We must now be ready to defend our European independence.
I would like to remind that Russia, this year, in so called purchasing power parity terms, will spend for the war more than all of us in the European Union are going to spend.
I would remind also the numbers which NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is always repeating:
Now at this moment, Russia, during three months, produces more weapons than all NATO Member States, including United States, Canada, Great Britain, Norway and us in the European Union are producing during one year.
We must really understand what does it mean, and that is why I want to thank all of you for your support during this discussion for Ukraine and for the defence of Europe.
Next week, we will present the White Paper on the Future of European Defence with a focus on investment capabilities and Defence industry.
We will continue our discussion, and we will put votes into action to deter aggression and prevent war.
Thank you very much.
Source – EU Commission