President Gitanas Nausėda stated that Lithuania is becoming one of the most important centers of the defense industry in Europe.
“Lithuania is rapidly becoming one of the main centers of the European defense industry. Global leaders such as Rheinmetall and Northrop Grumman choose manufacturing sites not for sentimental reasons. Their presence in Lithuania is a clear signal that our industrial base, workforce, and legal environment meet the highest standards of defense production for our allies,” said the head of state on Friday at the Lithuanian-Finnish Economic Forum in Vilnius.
“Lithuanian engineers have been developing competencies in photonics, optics, and cybersecurity long before these areas became strategically important. This civilian potential is now naturally transforming into dual-use technologies and is increasingly focused on defense,” the president added.
At the ongoing forum in Vilnius, the Finnish Defense Innovation Network Define signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kaunas Science and Technology Park Tech-Park Kaunas, a similar document was signed by the Confederation of Finnish and Lithuanian Industries.
“The parties will cooperate and make every effort to promote bilateral trade, investment, scientific and technological ties, in particular, but not limited to providing modern and innovative products and solutions in defense, aerospace, and security, as well as in the area of economic resilience,” the memorandum of understanding states.
Tech-Park Kaunas and Define agreed to stimulate innovation and business development through acceleration programs and events, scientific research, and the creation of ecosystems in the fields of defense, dual-use technologies, and new technologies.
In the opinion of the editorial board of bb.lv, our President of Latvia is modestly silent. Just recently, we were all told that Latvia is the leading producer of the much-needed drones in the Baltic States. And now President Nausėda says that Lithuania is one of the most important centers of the defense industry in Europe. The Lithuanians have pushed us to the background again, and what about Edgars Rinkēvičs? Where are we looking?
