In today’s Europe positive changes can be marked - Raimundas Karoblis

"Today in Europe positive changes can be seen", noted Raimundas Karoblis, the Minister of Defense of Lithuania during the 10th Kyiv Security Forum, organized by Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine.

"Today I am more optimistic about the situation in Europe than last winter, for example, or the April referendum in the Netherlands. That referendum in general terms was not a problem of Ukraine. Today the situation has changed and people began to understand the essence of events.

Regarding Brexit, "indeed, it is a new page in the history of Europe and the new challenge for it. At the same time we see the British government assurances that it will continue to work in the interest of collective security and maintenance of European values", stated the Lithuanian official.

As for relations between the EU and the US, the Lithuanian Defense Minister noted that today after the American election results, many people began to doubt that the United States will remain the leader of the NATO and one of the pillars of international security. However, the last meeting of the NATO defense ministers, the Munich Security Conference and other international events have dispelled these fears.

Speaking about the resistance to Russian aggression, Raimundas Karoblis assured that the Alliance is ready to defend itself whether the current NATO measures will not refrain Russia from spreading its aggression.

"Regarding the counteraction to Russia's aggression, here I would like to emphasize that today we are mainly focused on its deterrence, but if it does not yield the desired results, we are ready to defend ourselves", the Lithuanian Minister of Defense said.

For reference:

Kyiv Security Forum was launched by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation Open Ukraine in 2007 is an annual international event to high-level discussions on the current issues in the Black Sea region and wider Europe. The Forum aims at increasing security cooperation between the EU and the Black Sea region, raising awareness about regional developments among key regional players, promoting the role of independent and non-governmental actors in setting the security agenda in Europe.