"The Baltic states are reliable allies and such a decision will significantly boost our security situation," National Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas posted on Facebook.

In his words, although Lithuania is now home to the strongest NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group, a US battalion and NATO's air policing mission, the country seeks a permanent American presence.

Laurynas Kasciunas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense, says the US president's move is very important for strengthening the deterrence architecture against Russia.

"Lithuania has been seeking that since the start of this regional security crisis caused by Russia. The issue was also raised by our parliamentary delegation when we visited the US Congress two weeks ago," the lawmaker posted on Facebook.

"We have always been of the position that the greatest possible deployment of forwarding presence troops in the Baltic states and permanent, uninterrupted American military presence should be part of the deterrence architecture. Moreover, the security situation is changing after Russia deployed 30,000 of its troops in Belarus," he said.

On Tuesday night, Biden announced his decision to let US forces deployed in Europe to move to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, describing the deployments as purely "defensive".

The move comes in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision on Monday to recognize the two self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and order Russian troops into the separatist-held regions.

The US has stationed battalion-size army units of around 500 troops in Lithuania on a rotational basis since 2019.

Source
It is prohibited to copy and republish the text of this publication without a written permission from UAB „BNS“.
BNS
Comment Show discussion