By Edvardas Špokas, LRT TV, LRT.lt.

Lithuania is updating its national security strategy, warning that the country faces an existential threat and that Russia could be capable of waging war against NATO by the end of the decade.

The revised strategy states that Lithuania’s security environment has deteriorated sharply and emphasises that the country’s main pillars of defence are its military, societal resilience and allies. It underscores the need to prepare the state and society for defence during wartime, officials said.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago reinforced assessments already included in Lithuania’s previous security strategy, which was approved just two months before the invasion, Vice Defense Minister Karolis Aleksa said.

“The invasion only highlighted what had already been identified. The strategy could have been reviewed at that time as well,” Aleksa said.

Former and current lawmakers said the earlier document did not lose relevance, noting that it placed significant emphasis on comprehensive defence, including the establishment of territorial defence units and the strengthening of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union.

Read more: LRT.LT