Lithuania's Minister of Finance Kristupas Vaitiekūnas, Poland's Minister of Finance and Economy Andrzej Domański, Estonia's Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi and Latvia's Minister of Finance Arvils Ašeradens today signed a joint declaration in Vilnius on strengthening the economic and financial resilience of the EU's eastern border.
During the signing, Lithuania’s Minister of Finance Kristupas Vaitiekūnas stressed that strengthening the EU's eastern border is vital for the security of Europe as a whole, and coordinated European Union action is necessary to ensure that the frontline states have sufficient financial capacity to respond effectively and quickly to changing circumstances. "This new reality must be fully reflected not only in the financial instruments dedicated to strengthening EU defence and internal security, but also in other EU policy areas as a horizontal priority," K. Vaitiekūnas noted.
The Joint Declaration of the Baltic States and Poland welcomes the European Commission's Communication on the EU's Eastern Border Regions, which provides an important basis for shaping funding priorities in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (2028-2034). This is expected to help mobilise EU financial instruments, better coordinate investment facilities and justify the need for additional support to strengthen resilience and security in the EU’s eastern border regions.
As highlighted in the declaration, Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine has become not only a geopolitical challenge for Europe’s eastern border region, but also a long-term structural change in the security, economic, social and fiscal areas. The aggressive neighbourhood has a significant impact on the region in a number of economic aspects, such as slower GDP growth, declining trade and transit flows, and foreign direct investment challenges, and, therefore, the declaration stresses the need to ensure a horizontal and special focus on the needs of the EU’s eastern border countries in the EU budget.
The declaration also notes that continued and sustainable support to Ukraine is an essential pillar of European security and a decisive factor in deterring further Russian aggression.
"A stronger EU’s eastern border means a stronger Europe", the declaration underlines.
The Joint Declaration of the Baltic States and Poland was signed during the international conference "Strengthening Economic and Financial Resilience of the EU Eastern Border – Search for Strategic and Coordinated Actions". At the conference, the Ministers of Finance and Economy of the Eastern European countries, representatives of the European Commission and international financial institutions, as well as political and financial experts discussed the extraordinary challenges facing the countries of the EU's eastern borders and the strengthening of European defence and security in the changing environment of defence financing.
Photos: Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania