US President Donald Trump has nominated Keith Noreika to serve as the new US ambassador to Lithuania, LRT reports. If confirmed by the US Senate, Noreika will replace career diplomat Kara McDonald, who has served as ambassador since 2024. Noreika is a corporate lawyer specialising in financial regulation. He has served as executive deputy president…
NATO plans to assign additional forces to defend the Baltic States, Reuters reports. Military sources revealed that Germany and the Netherlands had agreed to assign the 1 German-Netherlands Corps (1GNC), based in the German city of Münster, to the defence of Estonia and Latvia. The move would facilitate the rapid deployment of forces into the…
The three Baltic States as well as Poland and Romania have expressed readiness to host more US troops, Politico reports. Earlier, US President Donald Trump announced that he would withdraw 5,000 or more US military personnel from Germany. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda announced that Lithuania was prepared to host as many allied troops as it…
Lithuania’s Defence Minister, Robertas Kaunas, has dismissed concerns over contractors chosen to build a military base for German troops in Rudninkai, ELTA reports. He noted that none of the bidders raised security concerns and there was thus no legal basis to exclude them. One of the companies, Rudina, which won a contract for EUR 348.35mn,…
The new National Security Strategy (NSS) of the United States shows that the US understands the security sensitivities of the Baltic region, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene stated, BNS reported. Speaking after a joint meeting with her Estonian and Latvian counterparts in Riga, Ruginiene said that the US had assured that it would not withdraw…
The United States will not reduce its troops presence in Lithuania, currently numbering over 1,000, Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene stated, BNS reports. Speaking in an interview with LRT, Ruginiene assured that there was no risk of the US cutting the number of troops in the country following the government’s decision to raise defence spending…
The Baltic States will receive “special favour” from the United States in the future for being “model allies” who prioritise their own defence, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth stated, ERR reports. The three Baltic countries have pledged to allocate 5% of their GDP to defence over the coming years. Allies that “fail to do…
Lithuania is seeking continuous presence of US combat troops in the country, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election, President Gitanas Nauseda stated, BNS reports. Speaking after visiting US troops at the Pabrade training area near Vilnius, Nauseda noted that the base would soon be able to accommodate about 1,000 US troops. At…
Belarus has deployed military equipment and troops to its border with Lithuania, according to the OSINT monitoring group, Belarusian Hajun, RBC-Ukraine reports. The group said that the Armed Forces of Belarus (USRB) had transferred a tactical group of the 19th Mechanised Brigade to the Hudahaj station in Hrodna region, just seven kilometres from the border…