NATO has turned Vilnius into a fortressprotected by advanced weapons to protect US President Joe Biden and other alliance leaders meeting next week in the Lithuanian capital, at a distance of only 32 km from the border with Belarus, which are protected by barbed wire, reports Reuters.

Sixteen NATO allies have sent a total of about 1,000 troops to protect the July 11-12 summit, which will take place just 151 kilometers from Russia. Many also provide advanced air defense systems that the Baltic states lack.

“It would be more than irresponsible to have our skies unprotected as Biden and the leaders of 40 countries arrive”said the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausenda.

It is recalled that next Wednesday, July 12, on the sidelines of the Synod, the crucial foursome of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Tayyip Erdoğan will take place.

The Baltic countriesLithuania, Estonia and Latvia, once ruled by Moscow but part of both NATO and the European Union since 2004, spend all over 2% of their defense savingsthe largest percentage of the other NATO allies.

But for the region with a total population of about 6 million people, that is not enough to maintain large armies, invest in its own fighter jets or advanced air defenses.

Germany has deployed 12 Patriot missile launchersused to intercept ballistic missiles and cruise missiles or warplanes.

Spain has brought in a NASAMS air defense system, France is sending self-propelled Caesar howitzers, France, Finland and Denmark are basing military aircraft in Lithuania and the UK, and France is providing anti-drone capabilities.

Poland and Germany sent special operations forces reinforced by helicopters. Others send measures to deal with possible chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks.

For Nausenda, the allied effort to ensure aviation security during the leaders’ gathering means that NATO must urgently establish permanent air defenses in the Baltic states.