Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Lithuania, Security

Dalia Grybauskaite and Joachim Gauck. Photo: bundespraesident.de

Speaking after a meeting with President Joachim Gauck, Grybauskaite said in Berlin on Wednesday that Germany supported Lithuania's wish that a greater NATO presence in Eastern Europe be approved at the Alliance's summit in Warsaw in July.

"I think we have this understanding and support (from Germany). Additional deterrent forces must be present in the Baltic countries and Lithuania, and we hope that Germany will increasingly take a leading role in this area," she told reporters.

According to the Lithuanian president, a visit by high-ranking German military officials to Lithuania is planned within the next two months.

In Grybauskaite's worlds, the NATO-Russia diplomatic consultations to be held in Brussels on Wednesday should not be regarded as a return to cooperation.

"I'd regard this only as a re-establishment of contacts, but not yet cooperation. No practical cooperation is taking place and, apparently, will not take place in the near future," the Lithuanian president said.

The BNS journalist's trip to Berlin was partly paid for by the Lithuanian President's Office. This has no impact upon the content of the report.