On September 9–11 Vice minister of National Defence Vytautas Umbrasas and an official delegation conducted a visit to the United States of America. Vice Minister V. Umbrasas attended an event co-organised by the German Marshal Fund and the Ministry of Defence of Latvia, the Nordic-Baltic-U.S. Forum, , and meetings at the U.S. Congress.
The U.S. representatives praised the Baltic countries’ efforts to increase defence spending and increasing investment into closing capability gaps. Vice Minister underscored that “the Baltic security is closely tied to our partnership with the United States of America. That encompasses not only the U.S. military presence in the region but also assistance in developing the missing critical capabilities.”
Vice Minister V. Umbrasas presented Lithuania’s contribution to the efforts to strengthen maritime security in the Baltic Sea region and pointed out national efforts aimed at constantly improving the interoperability of Lithuanian and U.S. forces. Representatives of the three Baltic states expressed appreciation of the U.S. decision to deploy additional forces to Poland and underscored the regional importance of it.
At the Nordic-Baltic-U.S. Forum in Norfolk Nordic-Baltic and U.S. secretaries of defence ministries and their equivalents discussed security of the Nordic-Baltic region, maritime and air surveillance in the Baltic Sea region, and ways to improve maritime and airspace awareness. Representatives of nine countries’ ministries of defence agreed that the current maritime and air awareness needed improvement through relevant capability development.
The U.S. commitments to regional security, military presence and visibility in Lithuania and the region is one of the most essential assurances of the security and stability of Lithuania. The United States is implementing wide-ranging measures of deterrence in the Baltic region in support of NATO efforts and according to a bilateral principle. The U.S. was the first ally to deploy air defence reinforcement – additional fighter aircraft and personnel for persistent presence in the Baltic states when the security situation changed in the region and Europe in spring 2014. U.S. soldiers are deployed to train in military exercises and other military cooperation events in Lithuania, the United States also leads the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group Poland as part of the efforts to the strengthen the Alliance’s eastern border.
Defence cooperation of Lithuania and the United States gathered additional pace with the signature of a cooperation agreement in January 2017. The agreement reiterates both nations’ commitments to work side by side to strengthen the NATO alliance, increase the European security, and fight global security threats.
