For Lithuania, "a bucket of cold water must be thrown on Europeans who are still sleeping"

Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys, expressed his support for Ukraine in an interview with RBC Ukraine.

"On 1 January 2030, you could become a member of the European Union - and it's possible," said the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs during the inauguration of the project Ukraine2EU in Kyiv.

Ukraine2EU is a programme launched by the EU, Lithuania, and Denmark (later joined by Sweden), which aims to assist Ukraine in completing its path towards full membership in the EU.

In addition to supporting this strategic goal, Lithuania has actively aided Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale invasion. According to estimates by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Lithuania has allocated aid to Ukraine amounting to 1.8% of its GDP, placing it third among Ukraine's partner countries worldwide.

During an interview with RBC-Ukraine prior to the conference, Mr Budrys noted that not all European countries were increasing their defence spending and making long-term commitments to support Ukraine as Lithuania is doing. Therefore, he said, "we still need to ring this bell and throw a bucket of cold water on beds where someone is sleeping warmly".

(MH with AmBar - Source: RBC Ukraine - Photo: © Unsplash)