Today Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė met with Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command General Bryan Fenton and thanked him for the long-standing United States support to the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces. Their meeting also was focused on regional security and options of strengthening bilateral cooperation.
“We are grateful for over 20 years of support to our Special Operations Forces. The U.S. troop presence on the ground in Lithuania and their active contribution in ensuring our regional security is one of the most effective ways to ensure deterrence along the eastern flank of NATO and defence of it,” Minister said.
She also stressed that Lithuania was prepared to host even more of U.S. military personnel, including the Special Operations Forces, for which reason infrastructure intended for America forces is constantly upgraded.
“We understand that Europe must take more responsibility for Ukraine’s and its security and to continue the aid in every way possible. Lithuania is doing the homework and demonstrating a responsible attitude by increasing defence spending, investing in weapons acquisitions, fortifying our borders and strengthening defence capabilities collectively” D. Šakalienė noted.
Minister has also underlined that participation in multinational operations side by side with the United States remains high among our priorities.
“We are committed to deploy forces to multinational missions and operations and to deliver on our commitments, therefore the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces are ready and open to opportunity to deploy to multinational operations with the U.S.,” Minister said.
Lithuania and the U.S. Special Operations Forces kicked off their cooperation more than two decades ago, and grew even closer after 2002 when the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces joined the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
