Liberals are initiating a defense forum, they will discuss how to finance national defense

Such a decision was taken by the board of the Liberal Movement that met on Wednesday.

“We also want to discuss with experts, maybe the Freedom Party consulted with experts, I don’t know, but we don’t see the need to forcefully say it here and now, the process is long,” Eugenijus Gentvilas, an elder of the Liberal faction in the Seimas, told BNS.

According to the liberal, the proposals formulated at the forum will be submitted to the Government.

According to him, possible sources of additional defense funding were discussed at the meeting of the party board. Among them are the sale of shares of state enterprises, borrowing, additional taxation of pollution.

“We expressed a skeptical attitude regarding the position expressed by the Freedom Party that defense funding should be concentrated by depriving municipalities. National defense is not the task and function of self-government, but of the state,” said E. Gentvilas.

The Defense Forum of the Liberal Movement will be held on May 18.

According to E. Gentvilas, the Government has not given a deadline by which proposals can be submitted and when it will submit the final draft of additional national defense funding.

“That term has not been given. Someone goes out in Lukiškės Square to report in a pioneering way, someone does not even start discussions at all. We say May 18,” said the liberal.

According to him, since we are talking about financing needs for the next year, tax changes should be adopted by July 1.

“There is a possibility to accept together with the budget, but I would say that it is better before July 1,” said E. Gentvilas.

The Freedom Party announced on Wednesday that it proposes to collect the necessary additional funds for national defense by redistributing the share of the GPM currently falling to municipalities, increasing excise taxes and increasing the corporate tax rate by one percentage point.

According to the party, this will allow the appropriations for national defense to increase by about 420 million next year. euros and thus reach 3 percent. gross domestic product defense funding limit.

Politicians want to increase defense funding in order to create a division in the army faster, to receive a German brigade in Lithuania by 2027 and to prepare for general conscription.

The government also promises to establish a special fund, where funds would be accumulated for defense against higher taxes, to which residents could also donate.