Recently, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis visited the country to boost bilateral economic and security ties and offered a few tips on how to behave against aggressive bullies.
During an interview with journalists, the 42-year-old grandson of Lithuanian independence leader Vytautas Landsbergis — famous for standing up to Moscow during the Soviet occupation from 1944 to 1990 — said the Baltic nation and the Philippines have much in common despite being thousands of kilometers apart.
Chief among these is the fact that both countries are squaring off against increasingly aggressive neighboring giants, Russia in the case of Lithuania and China in the case of the Philippines.
No to appeasement
“Our experience shows couple of things: that whenever an aggressive country has [an] aggressive agenda as well, we see it as an imperialistic agenda, because they are there to conquer foreign lands that do not belong to them, across borders of the of the nation,” Landsbergis said.
“If that country is not stopped, they there is no reason to think that they are going to stop just by themselves,” he added, dismissing the notion that an aggressor’s territorial ambitious can be appeased. “If it's in their agenda, this is their policy. If this is a policy, we've seen in the past how it goes.”
In the case of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which is now on its third year, the Lithuanian officials said “no country is too far away from the conflict”, since events on the other side of the globe create ripples that affect everyone especially on the economic front.
Push back against giants
In the case of the Philippines, the noted that Filipinos have suffered the effects of the distant conflict, no thanks to the global spike in fuel prices that ensued.
“If this sort of behavior is not defeated, that forces others to think that is allowed,” he said. “And this is why we we show solidarity to Philippines when you're facing geopolitical issues here in your region, or in your exclusive economic zone.”
In the case of the Philippines’ tensions in the West Philippine Sea, Landsbergis had this advice for Filipinos: “Stand your ground. Push back. Create alliances and strengthen the international rules-based order, [and] systems that support it, as much as you can.”
Sharing cyber defense expertise
During his meetings with Filipino officials and local businessmen, the official said he offered to share his country’s expertise in cybersecurity issues, given Lithuania’s long experience in having to fend of Russian cyberattacks.
“We’ve been exposed to Russian cyber activity for decades,” he said. “Since they got their first instruments to do something, we were the first target for them to do something.”
This experience of being under regular attack by malicious actors in the digital sphere, allowed Lithuania to develop a competence that it can share with countries like the Philippines, both on a government to government and a business to business level.
“Just to give you a very specific example on that, every year we have a cybersecurity exercise, which is arranged by the Ministry of Defense,” he said. “It's called Amber Mist. And so we extended an invitation to Philippines to attend that for the first time.”
“We share scenarios that we know from our experience. And I think it's useful for our partners and allies and friends to to compare notes,” he added.
Warning: We bite
Amid China’s increasingly aggressive moves in the West Philippine Sea, Landsbergis said it is crucial for the Philippines not just to rely on their allies, but to boost its defense capabilities as well.
“On my way here. I've been reading the treaty between Philippines and United States. There are a lot of similarities with the Washington Treaty that created NATO,” he said, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “There's an article that says that countries have to do everything in their power in order to defend themselves, and then consult, and then expect for assistance from from your allies, right?”
“The Washington Treaty is framed the same way,” he pointed out. “Article Three is you defend yourself. Article Four is you consult your allies. Article Five, one for all and all for one.”
“But for both of us, Article Three is our full responsibility,” he said.
Because of this, Lithuania has begun spending more on defense, recruiting more young citizens into the armed forces, procuring new equipment, and hosting more German and US troops to deter Russia which is just at its doorstep.
“We're small, but we're growing teeth as sharp as possible,” he said. “So just in case, you can tell that we are going to bite.”
‘Grow sharp teeth’
Landsbergis said the Philippines is doing “all the right things” in the way it is handling its maritime challenges.
The Lithuanian foreign minister recounted the previous day’s television interview where he was asked for his advice for the Philippines: “I said ‘grow sharp teeth’.”
He also noted how different countries in the region are treating the South China Sea issue differently owing, to a large degree, to how close or how far they are from the contentious maritime zone.
While the tensions are felt more acutely in the Philippines, countries farther away feel it less.
“But it's part of human nature. Until it's at your doorstep, you think that it's not your problem,” Landsbergis said.
This article was originally filed last April 26, 2024 before InsiderPH went live. We are republishing it today, June 10, 2024.
Senior Reporter
