US strengthens military presence in Baltics – EURACTIV.com

The U.S. will continue to increase its military presence in the Baltic states and change the status of U.S. forces in Lithuania to a “permanent rotating presence,” the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius said Wednesday.

“U.S. Ambassador Robert Gilchrist told Defense Secretary Arvidas Anusaskas that as part of ongoing engagement with its Baltic allies, the U.S. will continue to increase its military presence in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,” the embassy wrote. Press release.

“In Lithuania, this initially involved a transition from episodic deployments of an armored battalion and a field artillery battery to a permanent, rotating presence,” it said.

The American battalion has been stationed at the Bobraday training area near Vilnius since 2019, with longer or shorter breaks between rotations.

At the NATO summit in Madrid, President Biden pledged greater rotation and a direct presence of US forces in the Baltic region, the embassy said.

“As President Biden has said, we are committed to protecting every inch of NATO territory. The deployment of U.S. forces is a testament to that commitment, and as we continue to adjust our force posture in the region, we are committed to maintaining a sustained presence in the region and increasing training with our Baltic allies, a credible warfighter. “helps develop. capabilities to maintain and improve our security and deterrence postures,” the US ambassador was quoted as saying in the press release.

This article originally appeared on EURACTIV’s media partners LRT