Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius underscored at a meeting with Chief of the National Guard Bureau General Daniel. R. Hokanson the importance of the U.S. force presence in Lithuania and the U.S. assistance in developing Lithuania’s military capabilities, as well as how crucial the continued support to Ukraine was.
Vice Minister thanked General for the lasting partnership with the U.S. Pennsylvania Army National Guard and the substantial assistance to the Lithuanian Armed Forces, especially the development of a division-level land force command and control capability. “We are delighted to have PANG members training in Lithuania too,” underscored Vice Minister M. Abukevičius.
“We have been and we will continue telling that more U.S. troops in Europe make the continent safer. Realistic deterrence rests on two pillars in our region: military presence of NATO and the U.S. Allies, therefore we aim to secure a persistent presence of combat U.S. capabilities here on the ground. We are prepared to spend more resources on it,” said Vice Minister at the meeting. The fifth rotation of the U.S. battalion is currently deployed in Pabradė. In its turn, Lithuania aims to ensure the rotational presence continues. The Ministry of National Defence continues investing defence appropriations in military infrastructure so that Lithuania is able to ensure appropriate host nation support to our Allies. Lithuania had provided national funding for setting up a camp facility for the needs of U.S. troops at Pabradė which is also continuously developed, the rotational troops have access to infrastructure necessary for maintaining combat readiness.
The meeting also focussed on the assistance to Ukraine. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a significant impact on the security architecture in Europe. We are very clear-eyed about the fact that if we do not stop Russia in Ukraine, next is our turn,” pointed out Vice Minister. According to him, even though the U.S.-led coordination of support in an immense and critical effort, we are still three months behind with our aid. “We need to do anything to get the support moving speedier to Ukraine. We are doing our best,” underscored M. Abukevičius. Vice Minister also informed the U.S. General that Lithuania planned to earmark “financial commitments to Ukraine” in annual defence budgets to ensure the speed of assistance.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Pennsylvania National Guard are celebrating the 30th anniversary of partnership next year. The bilateral cooperation covers nine areas, it is complex and targets long-term goals. The key attention is paid to training (e.g. UH-60 Black Hawk pilots and maintenance personnel), military infrastructure development, cybersecurity (development of the Regional Cyber Defence Centre in Kaunas).
Photo credit: A. Pliadis
