Lithuania's Ministry of Finance published remarks by Finance Minister Kristupas Vaitiekunas from the 11th International Conference on Financial Markets in Vilnius, arguing that rising defence needs and competitiveness objectives require public funding to be complemented by private investment and greater use of capital markets. He reiterated the government programme goal of deepening and modernising Lithuania’s capital market, expanding available instruments and fully integrating into the EU Capital Markets Union, while calling for a European Commission approach that better reflects the realities of smaller markets such as those in the Baltic States. The minister highlighted the Baltic Capital Markets Initiative as a model of regional integration by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to overcome scale constraints, improve access to finance and broaden investment opportunities, while noting the need to increase investor participation and improve international visibility. He urged the European Commission to extend the scope and flexibility of the Technical Support Instrument, citing its limited coverage and the practical difficulty of joint multi-country applications, and expressed support for the Commission’s new Savings and Investments Union aimed at channelling European savings into productive investments, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. He also pointed to blended finance models and innovative EU-level instruments as necessary to mobilise public and private capital for defence infrastructure and industrial resilience, and linked stronger capital markets to mobilising funding for Ukraine’s resilience, reconstruction and longer-term integration.

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