Bayraktar for Ukraine: significance and resonance of the Lithuanian initiative

June 09, 2022

9 June 2022 Mykhailo Pashkov, co-director of the Razumkov Centres Foreign Relations and International Security Programmes, joined an international discussion organised by Andrius Kubilius, the member of the European Parliament and former prime minister of Lithuania. The participants discussed the importance and prospects of the initiative by the Lithuanian journalist Andrius Tapinas, who managed to raise about 6 million euros in just 3 days to purchase a Bayraktar drone for Ukraine. This  initiative to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces received wide international resonance and united people across Europe and the world. This action had a special significance against the backdrop of delays in military aid to Ukraine by the leaders of some Western European countries.

Mr Tapinas explained the importance of expanding and continuing the public initiative to raise funds for armaments for the Ukrainian army, especially in the Baltic countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, etc. Participants agreed that the organisation of broad public support for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU accession could be an important component of this initiative.