On Tuesday, October the 19th, 2021, the head of the Ministry of National Defence accompanied Andrzej Duda, the President of the Republic of Poland and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland, during his official visit to Lithuania.
 
At the Rasos Cemetery in Vilnius, Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, together with the Lithuanian Minister of Defence, laid flowers on the grave where the heart of Marshal Józef Piłsudski lies, and in the chapel in front of the columbarium, where the ashes of the January's  Uprising insurgents are buried.
 
“Lithuania, especially Vilnius, is an extraordinary place when it comes to Polish history and Polish tradition. When it comes to Polish-Lithuanian relations, when it comes to the memory of our country. Today I accompany the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, who is visiting Vilnius at the invitation of the President of Lithuania to participate in the session of the Lithuanian Seym, which will celebrate the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the May 3rd Constitution. The President of Lithuania was in Poland in May this year, the President of Poland is in Lithuania . We start with Rasos Cemetery, due to the fact that there are many places here that are worth visiting if we are in Lithuania" – said the minister.
 
At noon, the head of the Polish Ministry of National Defence and his Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anušauskas participated in the first meeting of the Polish-Lithuanian Presidential Council for Foreign Policy and Security. During the meeting, issues related to, inter alia, security in the region were discussed.
 
“The meeting of the Council of Presidents of Poland and Lithuania was devoted primarily to security. We discussed the situation on the Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Lithuanian border. Both our countries are under a hybrid attack by the Lukashenka regime. We talked about military cooperation. My Lithuanian counterpart, the Lithuanian Minister of Defence, participated in the talks. We also talked about security in the energy dimension, as we are all well aware that today energy sources are treated, especially by Moscow, as a great weapon. As a form of blackmail for those countries that depend on supplies of energy resources from Russia" - the head of the Ministry of National Defence emphasized after the meeting of the Council.
 
During the meeting, the situation related mainly to the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian and Lithuanian-Belarusian border was also discussed.
 
“We talked about the scenarios that are being drawn beyond our eastern border - probably in the Kremlin. We talked about how to resist those threats and we exchanged experiences. We talked about how the political world also reacts to everything that happens on our borders. And here I have to say with regret that as far as Poland is concerned, there are some of the opposition that does not implement what is most important for our country, and it can even be said that it fits into the scenario that was created and implemented by the Belarusian regime. It is different in Lithuania. It should be emphasized here that the entire Lithuanian political world supports the Lithuanian authorities in border protection. Let us remember that the border between Poland and Belarus and the border between Lithuania and Belarus are the borders of the European Union, and both our countries are in the European Union. We have obligations, and one of them is to guard the borders of our countries, which also constitute the external border of the European Union "- said the minister.
 
“In connection with the hybrid attack against Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and the broadly understood European Union, we expect solidarity. We expect the European Council to decide on further sanctions against the Belarusian regime. (...) We committed ourselves to our European partners, as a member state of the European Union, as a member state of the Schengen area, within the European Union, that we would guard the border. We will do so responsibly. We will not allow illegal migration, illegal entry into the territory of the European Union and the Schengen area ” - said Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland after the meeting of the Council.
 
Minister Mariusz Błaszczak also took part in the ceremony of laying flowers at the Monument to the victims of January 13 1991 and in the ceremonies in front of the Polish Soldiers' Quarter
 
In the afternoon, the head of the Ministry of National Defence participated in a solemn session of the Seym of the Republic of Lithuania on the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the Mutual Guarantee of the Two Nations.
 
During his stay in Lithuania, Minister Mariusz Błaszczak also participated in the inauguration of the international scientific conference and exhibition on the occasion of the 230th anniversary of the adoption of the May Third Constitution and the Mutual Pledge of the Two Nations, which took place at the Palace of the Grand Dukes.
 

GALLERY>>>Visit of the head of MOD in Lithuania