Tensions are high in Eastern Europe.
On Friday, the U.S. Army announced the coming deployment of about 500 troops to Lithuania as part of a military operation.
Lithuania claims the move is part of a previously planned NATO policy to move troops from Poland for military training. Yet Lithuania’s neighbor Belarus is the site of heightened political tensions as protests have erupted following the August presidential election that international critics and protesters believe was rigged.
Lithuania’s minister of national defense said, “The United States is Lithuania’s strategic transatlantic defense partner and one of the main allies in ensuring the security of the entire Baltic region. The rotation of the U.S. troops in Lithuania is a deterrence factor of particular significance contributing to NATO efforts in the Baltic region.”
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said that the move was in direct coordination with Lithuania, due to their efforts to make the two percent GDP defense spending threshold that NATO member nations have agreed to pay – a topic President Trump has made a sticking point by removing troops from Germany for their alleged “delinquent” payment status.
“This level of cooperation, training, security and, ultimately, stability has been made possible by the commitment of Lithuania in the investment of more than 2 percent of GDP on defense spending and modernization of its armed forces,” Secretary McCarthy said.
He also said that U.S. service members will deploy to Lithuania for the next “several years” to engage in “training side-by-side with our great ally.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Army Secretary McCarthy, others at the Pentagon, President Trump and his military advisers as they establish a greater American military presence in Lithuania.
- That the tensions in Belarus would be resolved and not spill over into neighboring nations.
- For the American troops who will spend the next months in operational exercises in Eastern Europe.
Sources: Fox News, Reuters
