Budrys visited Tallinn for the first time since taking office at the end of 2024. In a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200), the pair discussed Ukraine, regional security, Baltic energy and transport projects.

At a press conference afterwards, Budrys reiterated that countries need to react more strongly to hybrid threats, such as the "disruptive activities" in the Baltic Sea where electricity and data cables have been cut by vessels suspected of sabotage.

"To stop escalation you have to respond /.../ especially when it is a political initiative on one side," the minister said.

Russia wants to split society with these attacks and raise questions about support for Ukraine, he said. One way to hit back at Russia is with more military support for Kyiv, another could be hurting its interests elsewhere.

"We are not talking about an asymmetric response, we won't go and burn their factories [down] or retail shops because we are not Russia," Budrys told reporters. "But we have to send a message here that we not only don't like it, but we are not accepting the situation."

He said the Baltics have seen the full spectrum – "from energy to information" – of what Russia can do and need to share this information: "That's the obligation of the Baltic counties, to convince allies and partners to act now because otherwise there will be bigger consequences."

"Last year we missed the chance collectively – not individually – to react and respond in the proper manner to the kinetic operations and sabotage operations in Europe to say with one voice 'look they are escalating and if we show weakness, they will escalate further in other areas.' And that's what happened," he told the press conference.

But this issue does not lie only with the Baltics to react. He said Russian attacks have taken place across Europe from Finland to Italy and the UK: "Why are we still discussing it as some new normal? It's not a new normal."

Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna said he believes the political willingness exists among allies. But added discussions about changing international laws and regulations need to be held to – at least regionally.

He said he had noticed a change in political understanding after the last attack on December 25 on the EstLink 1 electricity cable between Finland and Estonia. "It is not just one case or another, it is a systematical pattern," the Estonian minister said.

Lithuania needs functioning embassy in Beijing

Lithuania's relationship with China was also raised. Relations soured in 2021 after the opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius. In response, Beijing downgraded diplomatic ties with Vilnius and imposed trade restrictions.

Answering a question from Postimees the new Lithuanian government's China policy, Budrys said: "Lithuania's China policy is neither old nor new, we continue to expand our relations in the Indo-Pacific region and we see it as an alternative of developing relations with the countries that respect democracy, respect the rule of law, respect business conduct, and are not delivering different types of threats that can be implemented through dependencies."

"We have to have our embassy in Beijing, we want China to have their embassy," he said. "My interest is to normalize the relations to the point that we can interact as it is described in different conventions, diplomatic treaties and as part of international traditions of diplomatic relations."

However, Budrys said Lithuania's actions were not to blame for the downturn in relations.

He also said China's assistance to Russia's military industrial complex and aggression against Ukraine cannot be forgotten, as well as the cutting of economic ties with Lithuania after the opening of the Taiwanese Representative Office.

3% should be Hague NATO summit defense spending goal

Lithuania plans to raise it's defense spending from 3.2 percent of GDP to "almost 4 percent" this year, he said.

The Lithuanian minister said the minimum target for NATO members at this year's summit in the Hague should be 3 percent of GDP so allies can meet regional defense plans. Estonia has previously said it would push for a commitment of 2.5 percent.

Answering a question from ERR about expectations for next week's NATO Baltic Sea member states' summit in Helsinki, Budrys said the priorities are the shadow fleet, developing infrastructure monitoring, and creating new regulations about reacting to incidents.

Budrys will also attend the state funeral of President Arnold Rüütel on Saturday (January 11.)

Watch the press conference below.

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