The Foreign Policy of the President of Lithuania towards Poland in the context of security in 2019–2023

Abstract

ObjectivesThe aim of this article is to analyse the Lithuanian foreign policy pursued by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausda, towards Poland in the years 2019–2023 and to attempt to assess the main directions of its activities in this aspect.MethodsThe use of scientific publications, expert reports, official statements, public speeches and previously published interviews in the Lithuanian or foreign press.Resultsl. Firstly, the actions of President Nausėda and Duda resulted in the mobilization of other countries to act on behalf of Ukraine and the development of a common position on further actions against the Kremlin in the form of sanctions; 2. Secondly, thanks to the diplomatic means of Nausėda, Lithuania. Poland gradually freed itself from the Russian energy dictatorship, contributing to the political independence of the region; 3. Thirdly, thanks to the same diplomatic measures of Nausėda and Duda, during the NATO summit in Vilnius in 2023, an agreement was reached on the new regional defence plans of the Alliance, fully meeting the expectations of the Baltic states and Poland.ConclusionsThe four years of Nausėda's presidency were full of challenges, including: extraordinary circumstances related to the migration crisis as a hybrid attack by the Belarusian regime in 2021, Russian military aggression against Ukraine in 2022 or the energy price crisis in 2021–2022 and the stationing of the Wagner group in Belarus, which prompted Nausėda to look for new directions in Lithuanian foreign policy - which explains the search for a new path with the countries of the region, especially Poland.