Lithuania calls for more flexible EU voting on foreign policy

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys on Wednesday called for greater flexibility in the EU’s decision-making on foreign and security policy, arguing that unanimity should not be required for every decision, according to Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT.

“It is clear that applying unanimity to all common foreign and security policy discussions is not appropriate; we should be more flexible,” Budrys said.

He said member states should retain their veto over decisions involving fundamental national security interests, while other matters, including official statements and procedural steps, could be decided by qualified or simple majority.

Budrys cited EU enlargement as an example, questioning whether unanimity was necessary for every stage of negotiations.

“Take enlargement, for example. Opening and closing negotiations certainly require unanimity, but do we really need it for all of the more than 130 additional steps?” he said.

“We could likely move faster with simpler decision-making.”

A similar proposal has previously been made by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who suggested qualified majority voting for intermediate stages of EU membership negotiations while retaining unanimity for the final enlargement decision.

Nauseda described the unanimity requirement as a potential tool for abuse while acknowledging that it also protects the interests of smaller EU member states.

Under current EU rules, many foreign and security policy decisions require the unanimous support of all member states, meaning any country can block a decision.