Which side are you on?

The time has come. Not tomorrow, not maybe, not “if it becomes necessary”, but NOW. Here and now. Today.

Today you must decide which side you are on. Your own side, your country army’s side, your country's institutions, or on the other side. There is simply no middle option left. No grey zones left. No room left for meandering.

Now is the time for a firm spine and clear values. And now is your time to decide. Who you are, where you are, which side you are on. Who is with you. Or with whom are you.

The war is already happening. And it has been already for a long time. In recent days it has only intensified; nothing new has begun. It has intensified to the point where even the blind are beginning to, well, if not see it, then at least sense, that not everything is as innocent as it seems. Stop blabbering about "other opinions," about how "it's not all so clear-cut”, that "the truth is somewhere in the middle”. Pull yourself together and stop speculating. Stop adding to the information noise. What is needed now, is calm, focus, and collective action. The enemy's information tentacles have entangled the minds and hearts of countless people. Don't become one of them.

NOW IT IS YOUR TURN TO DECIDE. What you support, whose side you are on. Today your support is needed first and foremost by the Lithuanian Armed Forces.

Because THEY are YOU.

I am very glad, that I once had the chance for an exceptional conversation with my regiment's artilleryman, with whom we dedicated the greater part of our conversation to the Lithuanian army, discussing the difficulties, our country's military is facing.

"People, all of Lithuanian society - that is the potential Lithuanian armed forces,” the warrior says it calmly, drawing on his experience with the war in Ukraine and the Ukrainian army.

“The overwhelming majority of the Ukrainian army is made up of civilians, or more precisely, yesterday’s civilians. They are not some kind of legionaries, born to be soldiers. Yesterday one was an engineer, another one was a driver, and that one - a farmer or IT specialist. Maybe a journalist or a teacher. But all this was yesterday. Today, they are all dressed in uniforms. Today, they are the army, and the same will happen in Lithuania. The army and society are one system, because society is precisely the army's reserve. Because those guys and girls, current soldiers, one day they suddenly will become the wounded or the fallen, and you, Lithuanian society, will become the Lithuanian army. And then, the problems you now shout about so loudly and blame the army for, those problems will become your own. And you know what? Then others will start shouting and blaming you.”

We talk, we take a short pause; outside the walls, where we are sitting, is very cold, but inside, the room has been heated. Yet, the warmth is enough for only a couple of rooms, everywhere else it is cold. That cold seeps into the very marrow of your bones - cold is everywhere. My men, the soldiers, hold on, stubbornly trying to create at least some, at least minimal, comfort, what little is possible under such conditions.

“You must become a hedgehog, your country, I mean,” the man sighs after the pause. “A prickly hedgehog, not a soft capybara. Become whatever, a crocodile if you want, it doesn't matter what, the main thing is - a predator. You understand very well, why enemy does all these things to you: “oh, we accidentally crossed the border”, “accidentally got lost somewhere in your country”, all those little things.

“You must understand that Putin is a gangster and all of this is simply a psychological test. It is the test of an elementary gangster for you. For example, a gangster on the street will take your phone away and watch what you do, how you react. If you pretend you 'didn't notice’, or ‘nothing happened’, he'll take something else from you and will continue. If you 'bark' at him, the answer will be 'oh, I'm sorry, I truly didn't mean to’. But if you close your eyes to everything that is happening…”

I thank the Media Support Fund for supporting the post series "War in Ukraine: The Gap Between the Military and Society”