Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kęstutis Budrys

"I never felt that Lithuania is a soft target. I saw Brussels always as the softest target of all." Lithuania's Foreign Minister, Kęstutis Budrys, passionately lays out why Europe must wake up to the war already being waged against it in this interview. "If we are not doing this, there will be a huge price. And believe me, that price will be much higher than 5% of GDP." Drawing on more than 20 years in national security and intelligence, Budrys described a country witnessing sustained hybrid attack: drones crashing in Lithuanian territory, fighter jets violating airspace, undersea cables sabotaged, civil aviation disrupted by GPS jamming, and assassination plots targeting opposition figures. However, his sharpest message was aimed at Brussels. "I never felt that Lithuania is a soft target. I saw Brussels always as the softest target of all." Budrys recounted how Lithuania spent decades purging Russian influence from its energy, transport, and financial sectors; work he believes much of Europe has yet to begin. He pointed to ongoing purchases of Russian LNG and the continued presence of Rosatom in European nuclear projects as evidence of dangerous complacency. "When we criticise the United States, they point to our numbers and say: you are buying Russian gas that finances their war machine. And they are right." On Ukraine, the minister expressed cautious optimism. He noted that Ukrainian forces have halted Russian advances and are inflicting unsustainable losses: over 30,000 Russian soldiers killed per month by drones alone. A strategic turning point, he suggested, could come within the next year if Europe maintains political and financial pressure. But he refused to entertain territorial concessions. "We will never recognise the occupation of Ukrainian territory, neither de jure nor de facto." Looking ahead to Lithuania's EU Council presidency in January 2027, Budrys outlined a security-first agenda: accelerating EU enlargement for Ukraine and Moldova, building economic defences against hostile actors, and finally treating the bloc as a geopolitical force rather than a collection of national interests. His closing message was unambiguous: Europe's survival depends on shedding its illusions about Russia, about its own vulnerabilities, and about the cost of inaction.