NATO leaders begin to arrive in Vilnius for the Alliance summit

The heads of state and government of the NATO they began this Monday to arrive at Vilnius to participate in a decisive summit for the future of the alliance and that will take place in the midst of great security measures.

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The location of the summit Vilniushas a great symbolic content because it is only 35 kilometers from belarusRussia’s ally in the war against Ukraine.

The general secretary of the NATO, Jens Stoltenbergwas one of the first to arrive at Vilniuswhere he met the president of Lithuania, Gypsies Nausedato prepare the summit.

“The fact that we are meeting in the vicinity of an attacker is a clear sign of our unity and determination. We are united and we will defend every inch of the alliance”, he claimed nausea at a press conference with stoltenberg.

They are also already in Vilnius the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoganand the Prime Minister of Sweden, ulf kristerssonwho met this Monday at the invitation of stoltenberg to try to approach positions on the pending entry of Stockholm into the Alliance before the start of the summit.

It is expected that the president of USA, Joe BidenI arrived at Vilnius around 8:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT) after having made a stop in the United Kingdom to meet the King Charles III and the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunakwho also plans to attend the event in Lithuania.

In total, the meeting in Vilnius will be attended by the 31 heads of state and Alliance Government and other invited leaders, such as the Swedish Prime Minister and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskywho will finally come in person.

The leaders of Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealandin charge of making the voice of Pacific Asia in the NATO.

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To ensure the safety of all these leaders, they have been deployed in Vilniusother towns and border areas some 3,000 Lithuanian soldiers and another 1,000 soldiers from the allianceaccording to data from the Lithuanian Defense Ministry.

In addition, other countries will contribute to the security of the summit by sending weapons to Lithuania or to nearby countries.

For example, Germany has sent to Lithuania various systems patriot used to intercept ballistic missiles or combat aircraft, according to the Lithuanian Defense Ministry.

For its part, the missile battery anti-aircraft Nasams that Spain has deployed in Latvia will defend the skies of Lithuania during the appointment.

Meanwhile, France will have deployed during those days 2,400 soldiers on the eastern flank of NATOwhich includes the 1,000 it has in Romania and the fighters Mirage participating in the protection of the airspace of the Baltic republics from Lithuania.

As EFE was able to verify, the security measures include checking the passports of anyone who arrives at the Vilnius airport. There are also streets closed to traffic and fenced off buildings.

Aside from security, the streets of Vilnius have dressed for the occasion with endless lithuanian flagsUkrainian and the blue ones of the NATO that decorate the lampposts of the great avenues.

Several apartment buildings and shops have also hung Ukrainian flags, in a sign of support for their people in the face of the Russian invasion.

In the streets, there are also signs with the official logo of the summitan armored knight mounted on a horse that has been the national coat of arms of Lithuania since the end of 13th century and that symbolizes vigor and power, as explained by the NATO on your website.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.