Patron
Baltic
Military
Conference
‘Building a Fortress of Strength’
19-20 March 2026, Vilnius, Lithuania
‘Building a Fortress of Strength’
Vilnius, Lithuania, 19-20 March 2026
The flagship Conference serves as a unique forum for the convergence of decision-makers, senior policymakers, high-ranking military officers, and renowned defence experts, facilitating the exchange of insights and perspectives on critical military strategic matters.
The Patron of the Conference: H. E. Gitanas Nausėda, President of the Republic of Lithuania.
Baltic Military Conference is organised by the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania and General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of the Republic of Lithuania in partnership with Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Please note that participation is by invitation only.
You can find the 2026 conference photos by clicking the flickr links below.
2026 03 19 – 1 part
2026 03 19 – 2 part
2026 03 20
FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE
A flagship conference for high-level discussions on military strategic matters
HIGH-LEVEL SPEAKERS
Distinguished platform for decision-makers, senior policymakers, high-ranking military officers and renowned defence experts
PARTICIPANTS
Participation in this exclusive flagship event is strictly limited and by invitation only. The event is reserved for a limited number of distinguished participants.
President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda
Ministry of National Defence
of the Republic of Lithuania
General Jonas Žemaitis
Military Academy of the Republic of Lithuania
Lithuanian Armed Forces
The Baltic Military Conference provides a distinguished platform for decision-makers, senior policymakers, high-ranking military officers, and renowned defence experts to convene and exchange insights on critical strategic issues shaping modern security and defence:
The Baltic Military Conference 2025 brought together senior policymakers, military officers, and defence experts to discuss military strategic developments:
General Jonas Žemaitis Award was established in 2024 by the General Jonas Žemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania and the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania to recognise research and analysis that significantly contributes to a better understanding of strategic security-related issues in the Baltic region. The Baltic region possesses immense geopolitical importance, and its security has far-reaching implications for both regional security and Euro-Atlantic security. By encouraging high-quality publications on Baltic region security, we aim to enhance understanding of the complex security dynamics in the region, raise awareness of the security issues affecting the region, and offer recommendations on how to address security challenges effectively and maintain a credible deterrence and defence posture in the region.
Submission Deadline Has Passed
The deadline for submitting articles for the 2026 General Jonas Žemaitis Award has now closed.
Recipients of General Jonas Žemaitis Award:
Dr Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois receives the General Jonas Žemaitis Award for a publication “The Practice of Alliance-Building: How the Contested NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Came to Life”. The article provides a detailed discussion of how NATO established the policy of enhanced Forward Presence on its Eastern Flank between 2014 and 2016 in a complex and multifaceted diplomatic game. It argues that traditional theoretical approaches, which draw on International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis or Policy Studies to analyse international public policymaking, while revealing some important aspects of global governance, fail to account for the complexity, unpredictability and even messiness of the multilateral diplomatic deliberations, reported by practitioners. This study proposes a pragmatic theoretical approach, which recognizes the fluidity of the policy process, its relational and nonlinear character, and acknowledges the multiplicity of actors with shifting identities and interests, deliberating in loosely defined spaces. The toolbox of concepts— problematization, valuation, interessment and enrolment—proposed by policy transaction approach, helpfully illuminates empirical observations about international politics and diplomacy. Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois obtained her PhD in political science and international relations at Sciences Po in Paris, and is currently an Associate Professor at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, and a temporary research and teaching assistant at Sciences Po Grenoble, France. She is an author of “Diplomacy of Arrogance: Russia in the Baltic States” (in French, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2015), and a number of publications on the topics of diplomacy, sociology of international relations, security and mediation, Russia and the Baltic States. Former diplomat at the Lithuanian diplomatic service, Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois is an expert in international relations, foreign policy analysis, diplomacy, international security, peace and conflict studies. Her current research focuses on Russian power mediation in regional conflicts, its diplomacy in times of war and the problems of the European security architecture.
Dr Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois
Receives Jonas Žemaitis Award for a publication “The Practice of Alliance-Building: How the Contested NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Came to Life“.
Dr. Lukas Milevski receives the General Jonas Žemaitis Award for a publication “Manoeuvre Warfare in the Baltic: Political Imperatives and Tactical Conditions”.
Dr Lukas Milevski in his article claims that NATO is facing a doctrinally contradictory defence posture in the Baltic States as those countries are investing in a static defence line even while Western militaries adhere to manoeuvre-focused operational approaches. The article further argues that political imperatives and tactical conditions make static defence more appropriate than manoeuvre warfare. Politically, NATO’s policy of defending every inch and Baltic experience of Russian occupation require forward defence. Second, the Russian border will always stop offensive manoeuvre. Tactically, the increasing difficulty of crossing the battlefield intact improves the chances of tactical defence and throws doubt upon the necessity of defensive operational manoeuvre. Dr Lukas Milevski is an assistant professor (tenured) at the Institute for History at Leiden University, where he teaches strategic studies. He has published two books with Oxford University Press: The Evolution of Modern Grand Strategic Thought (2016) and The West’s East: Contemporary Baltic Defence in Strategic Perspective (2018) and publishes widely in academic and professional journals on strategy as well as Baltic defence.Dr Lukas Milevski
Dr. Lukas Milevski receives the General Jonas Žemaitis Award for a publication “Manoeuvre Warfare in the Baltic:
Political Imperatives and Tactical Conditions”.
Dr Matti Pesu received the general Jonas Žemaitis Award in 2024 for a publication “NATO in the North: the emerging division of labour in Northern European security“. Matti Pesu is a Senior Research Fellow in the Finnish foreign policy, Northern European security, and NATO research programme at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He has led multiple research projects analyzing Finland’s security policy and NATO policy. Since the beginning of 2023, Pesu has been leading FIIA’s Nordic network. Pesu has worked at FIIA since 2017 as a Visiting Fellow, Research Fellow, and Senior Research Fellow. He has also worked at Tampere University, the European Commission, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. In 2012–2018, he was actively involved in the leading Finnish online magazine on international politics, The Ulkopolitist, most recently as a Managing Editor. He has published extensively on Finnish foreign, security and defence policy, defence cooperation, Northern European security, nuclear deterrence, NATO, and the development of Euro-Atlantic Security. He is a frequent commentator on matters related to his field of expertise in both Finnish and international media (i.e. BBC, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The New York Times, Reuters, and Associated Press). Pesu’s analysis and research have been included in publications such as International Affairs, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, War on the Rocks, National Interest, and NATO Review. Pesu completed his PhD in International Relations on the role of ideas in Finnish foreign policy at Tampere University in 2019.
Dr Matti Pesu
Jonas Žemaitis Award in 2024 for a publication “NATO in the North: the emerging division of labour in Northern European security“.
BALTIC MILITARY CONFERENCE is an annual flagship conference organised by the General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania and the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania. The conference brings together decision-makers, senior policymakers, high-ranking military officers, and renowned defence experts, facilitating the exchange of insights and perspectives on critical military strategic matters. The conference offers an exceptional opportunity for collaborative dialogue, strategic discussions, and the exchange of cutting-edge ideas, all aimed at addressing contemporary challenges and shaping the future of defence.
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