Details

Published: 23 April 2019

VILNIUS SECURITY FORUM 2019

(dedicated to NATO’s 70th anniversary)

International Conference

Western Readiness to Answer Russia’s Hybrid Warfare

22 March 2019

Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 53, Vilnius

Conference Summary

The conference began with welcome addresses by Vytautas Bakas, Chair of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence, and Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

In his welcome address, Mr. Bakas expressed his appreciation for this impactful international event organised by Lithuania on the initiative of active citizens and experts. He was grateful for the opportunity to discuss an array of important issues on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of NATO and the 15th anniversary of Lithuania’s membership of NATO.

Mr. Bakas stressed that one of today’s pressing goals was to respond to Russia’s ongoing hybrid warfare, a significant threat to the stability of Western democracies and their political systems. He highlighted that Russia was waging its hybrid warfare through use of a full arsenal of wide-ranging measures, including ‘economic and energy pressure, attempts to exert influence through information and propaganda, cyberattacks, and intelligence operations.’ Energy blackmail and interference in domestic policies were but a few of the many instruments identified by Mr. Bakas that were pursued by the Kremlin through corporations and enterprises under its control. These measures are employed in an attempt to change the geopolitical vector of sovereign states.

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