Opening remarks

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(As delivered)

Thank you so much, Gitanas, President Nausėda.
And it’s great to be back in Vilnius.
And thank you for hosting this Summit together with the Nordic countries.

Indeed, since 2015, this group has been a driving force for greater cooperation and stronger defences on the eastern flank.

And I’m delighted that the Bucharest Nine is growing to include the Nordic Five, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
And honoured, as always, to be joined by our good friend Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Good that you are here.

With Finland and Sweden’s membership, NATO’s eastern flank is longer than ever.
And thanks to the contributions of all NATO Allies, it is also stronger than ever, demonstrating our unity and resolve.

We have enhanced NATO’s presence on land, at sea and in the air.
We are increasing the number of forward land forces into nine now, nine Allied nations, because also Finland will now be included, which is very good news.
And we have stepped up NATO’s presence, including through Baltic Sentry and Southern Shield.

And I think we all know this matters more than ever, given the very real threat from a rapidly rearming Russia, which Allies in this region know all too well.

Our discussions today come at a crucial time.
Later this week indeed, NATO Defence Ministers will first meet in Brussels, to agree an ambitious new set of capability targets, linked directly to our defence plans.
These targets set out what forces and capabilities every Ally needs to provide, to keep our deterrence and defence strong, and our 1 billion people safe.

To do that, it is clear that Allies need to spend much, much, much more than we are doing now.
And that is why ramping up defence spending and production will be at the top of our agenda for our Summit in The Hague, which will take place in just over three weeks.

When we look at the key messages, I think it is this.
Spending more and producing more.

So, NATO needs Allies to zero in now and deliver on the elements that increase our war fighting readiness, so that we can better deter and defend.
And I'm grateful to Allies in this region for leading the way.

There is no security without strong defences.
And there will be no lasting security without a stable Ukraine.

So, we continue to support efforts to bring this brutal war to an end.
And to help Ukraine defend itself today and deter aggression in the future.

And this will be on the table also this week, when we meet with the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, chaired by Germany and the United Kingdom on Wednesday.

So, dear friends, a lot to do to prepare for a successful Summit.
But I’m confident that with your support we will make NATO a stronger, fairer and more lethal Alliance, to keep us safe for decades to come.

So, thank you again for your hospitality, and I look forward to our discussions.