Philippines, Lithuania sign MOU on strategic defense

On Monday, the Philippines and Lithuania signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance their defense cooperation, establishing a 'strategic-level' partnership amid shared concerns over regional security.

Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene emphasized during her four-day visit that this MOU is part of her country's strategy for meaningful engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and warned about growing cooperation among authoritarian states like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. highlighted that the agreement will facilitate more advanced exchanges on a larger scale moving forward, particularly in areas such as cybersecurity, defense industry collaboration, munitions production, hybrid threat response, and maritime security.

Both countries agreed to explore further cooperation in countering hybrid threats, disinformation, civil defense, societal resilience, and intelligence sharing, while also inviting Filipino forces to join Lithuania's 'Amber Mist' cyber defense exercise this November.

This move comes amid ongoing defense security cooperation efforts by the Philippines with other countries due to tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea.