The US may keep rotational forces in Lithuania beyond 2026, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced, BNS reports. Speaking after a meeting with US President Joe Biden, Nauseda revealed that he had heard “assurances of US flexibility” in meeting allied needs. Nauseda said that it was “realistic to expect” that the US troop presence in Lithuania…
NATO has affirmed decisions taken at the alliance’s Madrid summit in 2022 to deploy more combat-ready forces to the Baltic States, LRT reports. NATO allies will increase their troop presence in the region to brigade-size units. Meanwhile, German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, announced that Germany’s deployment of a full brigade in Lithuania would be done…
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has arrived in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, for the NATO summit, LRT reports. He arrived in Lithuania on Poland’s presidential jet. Zelensky will have several bilateral meetings with world leaders in Vilnius. Speaking at a public event on Lukiskes Square in central Vilnius, Zelensky thanked Lithuania for its support for Ukraine joining…
Defence ministers of the three Baltic States signed a declaration on joint defence of their airspace on the first day of the NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, on 11 July 2023, LSM reports. According to the declaration, the Baltic States plan to strengthen cooperation in air defence. Also, the three countries will ensure that…
A 100-kilogramme aerial bomb was found during excavation work at an intersection in Estonia’s second-largest city, Tartu, on 4 July 2023, BNS reports. Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts were dispatched to remove the bomb in the city’s Raadi neighbourhood. The bomb will be destroyed at the training grounds of the Estonian Defence Forces in Ida-Virumaa…
The heads of parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany have signed a joint declaration, calling on the NATO summit in Vilnius to commit to Ukraine’s eventual membership of the alliance, Ukrinform reports. The parliamentary speakers called on NATO allies to work closely together to develop security commitments for Ukraine. At the same time,…
The foreign ministers of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries (NB8) have signed a joint declaration in support of Ukraine’s membership of the EU and NATO, ERR reports. The ministers stated that Ukraine’s future was within the “Euro-Atlantic family.” The declaration said that it was time to use the “Baltic experience of the 1990s” in…
NATO’s new defence plans for the Baltic region mean that the Estonian people will “no longer have to wait to be liberated” if the country is attacked, Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, stated, ERR reports. Speaking at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Kallas said that NATO would be ready to fight back immediately, which should…
NATO member states have agreed on new defence plans for the Baltic region, LRT reports. The plans mean that if Russia sets foot in the region, “it will be pushed out,” Lithuania’s defence chief, General Valdemaras Rupsys, stated. He said that work was needed to implement the new regional defence plans. Lithuania’s NATO Ambassador, Deividas…