The Philippines and Lithuania have signed an agreement aimed at deepening security relations in order to counter the “common threat” from their powerful neighbors, particularly in the Baltic and South China seas.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation was signed in Manila yesterday by Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and his Lithuanian counterpart, Dovilė Šakalienė, who is in the country on a four-day official visit.
In a statement, the Philippine Department of National Defense said that the MoU would create “a concrete framework for possible defense cooperation between the two countries’ defense establishments, particularly in the field of cyber security, defense industry, munitions production cooperation, addressing hybrid threats, and maritime security.”
Prior to the signing of the MoU, Teodoro and Šakalienė “exchanged views” on global security concerns, including in the South China Sea and Europe, the statement said. “Both sides emphasized their shared principles and commitment in upholding international law and deterring unilateral actions that threaten regional stability,” it added.
In a joint press briefing with Teodoro, whom she met on the sidelines of last month’s Shangri-La Dialogue defense conference in Singapore, Šakalienė pointed to the common challenges facing the Philippines and Lithuania, nations with a powerful neighbor increasingly inclined to use force to achieve strategic ends.
“We see great potential for cooperation with the Philippines in many areas such as maritime security, including challenges related to shadow fleets by some big countries, our neighbors operating in the South China Sea and Baltic Sea,” Šakalienė said, as per Bloomberg.
She also repeated the alarm that she sounded in her speech at last month’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, in which she referenced “the convergence of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea into an increasingly coordinated authoritarian axis” and said that this demanded a unified response from the world’s democracies.
“Their joint actions are threatening the free world, are threatening the democracy in this world … and we do not have a luxury to allow this to be annihilated,” she said in Manila yesterday, citing China’s recent assertiveness in the South China Sea as a prime example.
The past three years have seen China’s coast guard increase both the frequency and intensity of its forays into Philippine-claimed waters. This has resulted in a string of dangerous confrontations in which Manila claims that Philippine Coast Guard and fisheries bureau ships have been rammed and hit with high-pressure water cannons. China’s government has generally claimed that it is merely defending its own territory, and accused the Philippines’ foreign partners of stirring up the maritime disputes for their own gain.
In yesterday’s press conference, Teodoro said that Manila’s partnership with Vilnius was underpinned by a “common threat.” We must resist and insist on the proper application of international law… and resist any attempt to unilaterally redefine them,” he said. He added that upholding international law is essential to protect “smaller countries who need the law to preserve our territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
Teodoro added that the MoU was “part of the alliance-building efforts” of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration, which has also broadened and deepened its defense cooperation with partners, including the United States, Japan, and Australia, in response to China’s recent belligerent actions.
Lithuania offers a small but potentially useful complement to this circle of partners. In this vein, Lithuania was among the four European nations that participated in this year’s Balikatan military exercises as observers, along with the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Last November, the Philippines participated as an observer in Amber Mist 2024, a cybersecurity exercise conducted by the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Lithuania has been among the most vocal supporters of the 2016 arbitral award that supported most of the Philippines’ maritime claims and ruled that China’s expansive “historical” claims to the South China Sea have no basis in international law. China has rejected the ruling.
