Vice Minister of National Defence Karolis Aleksa welcomed a delegation of the United States House of Representatives including Democratic and Republican Congressmen Ken Calvert, Betty McCollum, Ed Case, David Rouzer and Jake Ellzey.
At the meeting, Vice Minister thanked the United States for the support to the security of Lithuania and the whole region and underscored that the U.S. force presence in Lithuania remained the key security guarantee to our country. K. Aleksa debriefed the U.S. Congressmen on the steps Lithuania had taken to strengthen national defence, including development of Host Nation Support projects. The currently developed infrastructure for U.S. troops is planned to ensure high quality force training and housing.
“We are immensely grateful for the U.S. force presence in Lithuania, there is no stronger signal possible to Moscow than the United States banner beside our military units. IF there is an opportunity, Lithuania is prepared to host an additional U.S. force as well. We are under no illusion that the threat of russia might drop shortly, therefore we maximize our effort to develop our defensive capabilities. We have stepped up the defence spending up to 4 percent, 50% of which will be used for force upgrading. We have also identified priorities for long-term procurement for the next five years and we have invited U.S. companies to develop production in Lithuania together,” said Vice Minister K. Aleksa.
The officials also addressed prospects of strengthening bilateral cooperation and agenda of the upcoming NATO Summit. Vice Minister underscored Lithuania’s support to the U.S proposal of setting defence spending at the 5% of GDP floor.
When discussing assistance to Ukraine, K. Aleksa pointed out the steadfast national commitment to consistently continue supporting Ukraine bilaterally and multilaterally. Vice Minister walked the U.S. representatives through the aid Lithuania has already provided to Ukraine and planned to do so in the nearest future.
