On July 16 Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis will meet with Secretary of the Army of the United States Ryan D. McCarthy conducting a formal visit to Lithuania. The high officials are going to discuss defence cooperation of Lithuania and the United States, U.S. military presence in the region, joint procurement projects, and plans for Lithuanian Armed Forces infrastructure development.
Working on the deterring effect of the allied military presence on the ground, Lithuania invests into infrastructure development at Pabradė and other sites, builds on the Host Nation Support. U.S. military personnel are not only using infrastructure in the Lithuanian military training areas side by side with military personnel of other allied countries and Lithuania but are also contributing to infrastructure upgrading projects. The United States invested approx. USD 4.1 million in 2017–2019 to the Pabradė Training Area alone.
Also, joint Lithuanian-U.S. procurement projects are implemented to strengthen capabilities of the Lithuanian Armed Forces: last autumn a contract was signed with the Government of the United States on provision of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicles for the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Lithuania is also in negotiations on acquisition of Black Hawk helicopters.
Residents and guests of Vilnius may want to take into account that traffic will be limited on Liejyklos, Benediktinių, Šv. Ignoto, and Totorių streets on July 16 at 0840-0930 hrs
Media opportunities:
0910 hrs – formal welcome ceremony in front of the Ministry of National Defence (Totorių g. 25, Vilnius).
1130 hrs – a brief press conference of Minister of National Defence and U.S. Secretary of the Army at the Saulės mūšio hall at the Ministry of National Defence. Language of the press conference will English, the event will end at 1150hrs. Participants will have to respect social distancing requirements and wear protective masks to prevent the COVID-19 spread.
Freelance reporters and foreign media representatives will need accreditation given by the Ministry of National Defence.
Photo credit: P. Čilinskas (U.S. rotational troops in Lithuania)
