Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has asked parliament to declare a state of emergency. He is thus responding to the Russian invasion of friendly Ukraine.
Along with other Baltic states and Poland, Lithuania has invoked Article 4 of NATO, which states that member states will consult if any of them feels threatened to their “territorial integrity, political independence or security”. The ambassadors of the NATO countries met in an emergency meeting on Thursday morning.
“Only a united and strong response from the democratic West can stop Russia,” Nauseda said on Twitter. According to him, the future of all of Europe could depend on “how we react in the coming hours and days”. Nauseda says the attack on Ukraine “endangers millions of innocent people and undermines the foundations of international order”.
Lithuania does not border directly on Russia, but it does border the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.