FNF Baltic States

21/03/2026

What Trump means for Panzerbrigade 45 in Lithuania?

As part of our ongoing political education programme for German Bundeswehr soldiers in Lithuania since 2025, we were honored to listen to Christoph Eichhorn, who served nine years in the USA, including as an exchange civil servant in the US Department of State and as German Ambassador to Estonia (2015–2019) and Bulgaria (2019–2022).

In his talk “The Role and Positioning of the United States,” Ambassador Eichhorn shared his sober insights on current geopolitical dynamics, the deep meaning of Freedom Germans can learn from the Baltic States and his other personal lessons from the Baltic states, the US and Russia with members of Panzerbrigade 45.

The event took place in our Freedom Center in Vilnius and is part of our continued commitment to fostering dialogue and strategic understanding between Panzerbrigade 45 and the experts and civil society in the Baltic states.

We thank all the participants for their interest and active engagement, and looking forward to the next events!

19/03/2026

Defence - of Freedom - a winning agenda for liberals: together with liberals from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania German Liberals of FDP worked on how liberal democracies and open societies need to and can be defended.

The exchange focused on learning from the Baltic states’ experience in advocating for a free and resilient society. Participants shared ideas on how campaigning can build public support for defense of freedom. Strengthening cooperation between liberal partners across Europe remains essential, especially in times when freedom and security must be actively defended. 🇪🇺

We thank Henning Höne (Vice-Chair of FDP, Chair of FDP NRW) for his leadership and initiative, our inspiring facilitators Annika Arras (Founder of Miltton New Nordics) and Sven Gerst (Philosopher), inspiring speakers Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen (Chair of Liberalai, Lithuania), Dr. Artis Pabriks (former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Latvia), Col. Dr. Hans-Joachim Ruff-Stahl (Military Attaché of Germany in Lithuania) and Dr. Timo Graf (sociologist of Germany's Bundeswehr Centre of Military History and Social Science).

And, of course, many thanks to all participants from Germany that were open to learn from their Baltic friends and brought this agenda forward:
🔹 Dennys Bornhöft (Amt Eidertal)
🔹 Andre Hassan Khan (Chair of Liberal soldiers and veterans)
🔹 Lennart Jürgensen (Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit)
🔹 Nike Schneider (Chief of staff of FDP Secretary General Nicole Büttner)
🔹 Dr. Anastasia Vishnevskaya-Mann (FDP Berlin)
🔹 Maria Westphal (Chair of FDP Köln)

During their visit, the group also had the inspiring opportunity to visit the Vilnius vorai (Vilnius spiders) initiative of the “Support for Ukraine” group of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, where everybody helped to build camouflage nets, a hands-on execise of civic engagement for defense.

27/02/2026

“War against Ukraine After Four Years: What the Battlefield Dictates” - this was the title of yesterday’s event at Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science, where a new analytical publication was presented, prepared in cooperation with CRI and Locked N' Loaded and supported by FNF Baltic States.

The event focused on what we learned from the frontline realities: how the war has evolved over four years, how this shapes Western decisions and support for Ukraine, and what constraints and opportunities this has created for the negotiation process.

We sincerely thank our distinguished speakers:
📍 Brigadier General Nerijus Stankevičius, Commander of the Land Forces of the Lithuanian Armed Forces
📍 Prof. Dovilė Jakniūnaitė, Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science
📍 Artūras Plokšto, Adviser to the Minister at the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania and lecturer at the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania
📍 Romanas Judinas, Analyst at Locked N' Loaded
🎤 Moderator: Dr. Agnia Grigas, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council

In her welcome remarks, Laura Tatarėlytė (FNF Baltic states) stressed the importance of effectively communicating the lessons from the frontline to Germany and our Western allies, ensuring that we collectively learn, adapt, and strengthen our joint defence capabilities.

We thank again our partners CRI and Locked n Loaded and looking forward for our further cooperation.

🔗 Link to the publication in the comments.

02/01/2026

In 2025 the Freedom Center of Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit opened in Vilnius to bring analysis, assessments and answers on security & defence from the Baltic States to Germany. What a ride! So much good energy 💪, ideas 💡and reach 📰 through our partners and friends in the struggle to fight for a free Europe. Snippets of the opening in June 2025 in the video.

The first special thanks to the German politicians that joined, supported and discussed our projects in the first year - especially as it is not easy for Germans to admit that we have to learn from others ;) Thank you Henning Höne, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Christian Dürr, Nicole Büttner-Thiel, Finn Flebbe, Michael Link, Steffen Dähne, Dr. Ann-Veruschka Jurisch, Jürgen Morlok, Stefan Kolev, Christopher Gohl, Kerry Hoppe, Konstantin Kuhle, Andre Hassan Khan, Johannes Vogel, Tobias Bauschke, Marius Strubenhoff, Paavo Czwikla, Phil Hackemann, Gyde Jensen and Cord Schultz!

And even bigger thanks of course to our wonderful partners from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Starting with the ones who guided us at the beginning and made our opening impactful: Edward Lucas, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, Artis Pabriks, Hanno Pevkur, Jonas Ohman, Yevheniya Kravchuk, Petras Auštrevičius, Tomas Godliauskas, Valts Āboliņš, Minna Ålander, Kadi Silde, Gundbert Scherf, Dirk Niebel, Emanuelis Zingeris, Anne Brasseur, Cornelius Zimmermann and Jules Maaten

The fight for a free Europe is team work and with all these great minds and active people we will also win this!

01/12/2025

Biggest ever Business delegation from Germany in Baltic States @ German-Baltic Defence Industry Conference 2025 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹🇩🇪🇺🇦

We were proud as co-organisers that the "Drone Warfare: Tactical Impact & Industrial Opportunities" panel, moderated by Julius Freytag-Loringhoven (FNF Baltic States) with Artis Pabriks of MilTech Latvia, Stanislav Gryshyn of General Cherry, Karolis Žemaitis of Frankenburg Technologies and Vincas Jurgutis of LDSIA - Lithuanian Defence and Security Industry Association came up with three crucial lessons — drawing on Ukraine’s experience — that deeply inform how we should think about drone and counter-drone strategies in Europe:

1️⃣ Mass production of cheap drones is essential to counter FPV and Shahed-style drone swarms.
2️⃣ Instead of a “drone wall,” what we need is decentralised, low-cost interception systems everywhere — because attacks can come from any direction, not only across borders.
3️⃣ A decentralised, market-driven organisational model — like the one Ukrainians are using — can outperform centralized structures such as the Russian “Rubicon” model. Gamified decentralisation spurs innovation, fosters parallel systems, and yields better defensive capabilities for the future.

As 🇱🇹 Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys Užsienio reikalų ministerija highlighted:
“This conference is not only a platform for dialogue but also a practical tool to promote joint projects, innovation, and investment in the defence industry.” and 🇪🇪 Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, Kaitseministeerium said: "We need to learn from Ukrainians...in order to win...and not to prepare for the last war"

The official signature of the German-Lithuanian drone joint venture between Quantum Systems and ADV Defense with 🇩🇪German Minister of State Florian Hahn and 🇱🇹Lithuania's Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas was a good sign of tangible results during the conference.

A big thank you to German-Baltic Chamber of Commerce in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (AHK) Vokietijos ir Baltijos šalių prekybos rūmai and especially Florian Schröder, Audronė Gurinskienė, Inga Laurušonė and the whole team for stellar organisation — and thanks to all partners who made this gathering a pivotal step forward for Baltic, German and Ukrainian defence cooperation! hashtag

Fotos by Arturas Nikogosian 📸

19/11/2025

✨ Defending Baltics 2025 has fueled the winning spirit!

After a minute of silence in memory of those who have fallen in wars on Germany’s National Day of Mourning (Volkstrauertag), Kerry Hoppe set the tone at “The Evening Before” event, held at our Freedom Center, for an open and inspiring conversation.

Kerry as a young, liberal, reserve officer and courageous defence influencer, emphasized the urgency to strengthen German and European security and defense, and what roles young people play in shaping that future.

She shared our sentiment that big countries like Germany can only learn from the more resilient societies at the NATO Eastern flank. And that we can win this when we learn and prepare.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this inspiring start to the conference.

We already looking forward to Defending Baltics 2026!

18/11/2025

🎤“Between the Black and Baltic Sea Region: Lessons Identified”

In the discussion, moderated by Julius von Freytag-Loringhoven, experts from Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, and the U.S. examined the operational and strategic lessons emerging from the war against Ukraine. The panel explored innovative ways to counter superior air and naval forces — from drones and precision-strike systems to asymmetrical tactics and adapting civilian technologies for defense. Multi-domain integration and international cooperation stand out as essential for the future security architecture of Europe.

The panel featured:
💬 Gen. (ret.) Tomasz Piotrowski,
💬 George Barros (ISW),
💬 Major Andrii Yusov (GUR),
💬 Sandis Šrāders (RTU).

As Major Andrii Yusov stated: “Putin must understand that the next military endeavor against a Western country would be unbearable.”

📺 Watch the recordings of all conference sessions on the LRT portal: https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/tiesiogiai/live5

FNF Baltic states is one of the partners of the Defending Baltics conference, organised by Locked N' Loaded and CRI (Civic Resilience Initiative), together with the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, European Commission, Norwegian Embassy in Lithuania and Vilnius City Municipality.

Many thanks to all speakers, participants, and our partners for their invaluable contribution!

17/11/2025

"Defending Baltics 2025” has officially begun!

If you want to understand where European defense is heading, we invite you to join and watch the sessions live:
https://defendingbaltics.com/ and on lrt.lt: https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/tiesiogiai/live5

Defending Baltics 2025War Lessons from Ukraine to Baltic Region17–18th NovemberThe Palace of The Grand Dukes of Lithuania / VilniusDefending Baltics 2025 is a high-level international conference bringing together military leaders, policymakers, analysts, and security experts to translate Ukraine.....

23/09/2025

💬Kuhle at Donskis Conference on hybrid attacks from Russia and a new Helsinki

“The more resilient a society is, the more hybrid attacks it can withstand without succumbing to a climate of disorientation and cynicism. Resilience is the precondition for upholding the principles of the Decalogue and of the Helsinki Accords,” said Konstantin Kuhle (FDP) at the Eighth Leonidas Donskis Conference “Back to Square One - The Rise and Fall of the Helsinki Accords” organized in the ISM University of Management and Economics by the Andrei Sakharov Research Centre for Democratic Development.

The conference brought together international representatives from academia, politics, diplomacy, and civil society to discuss current issues in international law and human rights. This year’s event marked the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords.

Konstantin Kuhle delivered a keynote on today’s hybrid threats, emphasizing the need not only to counter individual attacks but also to strengthen the resilience of our societies.

In the evening, we had the honor of welcoming conference guests to our Freedom Center, where important discussions continued in an informal atmosphere.

Many thanks to our great partners, fellow fighters for a free Europe and all participants!

26/08/2025

🇩🇪🤝🇱🇹 On 30 August at 17:00, we invite you to the discussion “Boots on the Ground, Allies in Action: German brigade in Lithuania”

Our speakers:
🔹 Arūnas Degutis, Signatory of the Act of Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, Member of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union
🔹 Jakobine von Freytag-Loringhoven, First Secretary Political-Military Affairs, German Embassy in Lithuania (Vokietijos ambasada Vilniuje - Deutsche Botschaft Vilnius)
🔹 Fausta Šimaitytė, Head of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Office in Lithuania

💬 Moderated by Julius von Freytag-Loringhoven, Head of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Baltic States.

Together we will explore the future of German-Lithuanian military, political and societal cooperation and how can we all together support German-Lithuanian collaboration within and beyond the military sphere towards our common fight for a free Europe.

📍 See you on 30 August, 17:00–18:00, at the Institutas „Liberalis“ discussion space at the discussion festival "Būtent" in Bernardine Garden.

🌍 Discussion language – English

23/08/2025

🇱🇹🇱🇻🇪🇪 36 Years Since the Baltic Way

On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the secret deal that divided Europe, and led to the the Second World War.

Fifty years later, on August 23, 1989, nearly two million people in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia joined hands across 650 km in the Baltic Way, from Vilnius to Tallinn. It was a unique peaceful mass demonstration against Soviet occupation and a call for independence.

Today, on Black Ribbon Day, we honor the victims of totalitarianism and remember the courage of those who stood together for freedom.

The history lesson is clear: freedom is not given - it must be defended.

🇺🇦

📸 Photo: Romualdas Požerskis