{"id":1381,"date":"2026-05-30T09:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/05\/30\/nato-member-blasts-irresponsible-baltic-threat-to-russian-exclave\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T09:02:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:02:00","slug":"nato-member-blasts-irresponsible-baltic-threat-to-russian-exclave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1381","title":{"rendered":"NATO member blasts \u2018irresponsible\u2019 Baltic threat to Russian exclave"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys previously urged the US-led bloc to show Moscow that it can neutralize its \u201csmall fortress\u201d of Kaliningrad<\/strong><\/p>\n

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic broke ranks with other NATO members as he slammed Lithuania\u2019s foreign minister for his \u201cirresponsible\u201d<\/em> call to attack the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n

Milanovic\u2019s comments came after Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called NATO the \u201cstrongest organization ever created\u201d<\/em> last week, arguing for a more assertive posture toward Russia and saying European NATO members must turn \u201cfear of the threat into a sense of empowerment.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0
<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to show the Russians that we\u2019re capable of penetrating the small fortress they\u2019ve built in Kaliningrad,\u201d<\/em> he said. \u201cNATO has the capability, if necessary, to raze Russian air defenses and missile bases there to the ground.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Speaking on Thursday at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the creation of the Croatian Army, Milanovic called out the remarks.
<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"The
Kremlin responds to \u2018borderline crazy\u2019 threat from NATO state<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cEqually irresponsible, turning now to our own camp, are the calls and appeals I hear week after week from high-ranking officials of certain Baltic states to attack Kaliningrad Region\u2026 Such things should not be said,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n

He went on to warn that NATO\u2019s principle of solidarity should not be unconditional: \u201cReadiness to come to someone\u2019s vital assistance on the one hand also presupposes responsibility on the other.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Following the backlash, Budrys walked back the tone but not the substance, claiming that his remarks were not aimed at Russia but at audiences \u201cless familiar with military matters,\u201d<\/em> and were intended to counter what he called Moscow\u2019s narrative of Kaliningrad as an impenetrable fortress. <\/p>\n

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the interview \u201cnot the most successful statement.\u201d<\/em> Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene urged restraint in public comments.<\/p>\n

Kaliningrad is Russia\u2019s westernmost outpost on the Baltic Sea coast and is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, with no land connection to the mainland part of the country. Formerly known as Koenigsberg and the capital of the German province of East Prussia, it was ceded to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. <\/p>\n

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and NATO\u2019s expansion, Kaliningrad became surrounded by the bloc from all sides.<\/p>\n

Budrys comments triggered a sharp rebuke in Moscow, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the remarks \u201cborderline crazy\u201d<\/em> and a sign of \u201cmaniacal\u201d<\/em> hostility toward Russia.<\/p>\n

Asked on Thursday whether NATO could attack Kaliningrad, President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia \u201chas all the means to raze to the ground anyone who tries to do so.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys previously urged the US-led bloc to show Moscow that it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}