Lithuania expects US troop rotation decision in early autumn

Decisions on the rotation of US troops in Lithuania will be made in early autumn as Washington reviews its military presence in Europe, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, deputy chairman of the Seimas National Security and Defence Committee, told LRT on Monday, citing BNS.

Kasčiūnas, who leads the opposition Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, said the review was expected to end in early September and that a decision should follow in the first half of autumn.

“I think everything has been done at the military level. The European review ends in early September and we will have quick decisions. We will definitely have a decision in the first half of autumn,” he said.

Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas did not confirm the timeline. He said Lithuania had been asked by its partners not to disclose too much information on the issue.

“We must comply with our partners’ requests and commitments. Therefore, I will not go into much detail, but I will repeat that Lithuania, as a state, has fulfilled most, if not all, of its commitments,” Kaunas said.

More than 1,000 US troops completed their rotation in Lithuania this summer and left as Washington reviewed the deployment of its armed forces in Europe. Some US troops remain in Lithuania, but Kaunas said the rotation process had not yet returned to a standard level.

The United States has regularly deployed troop battalions in Lithuania since 2019. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Washington changed the status of its forces in Lithuania to continuous rotational deployment.

These reinforced battalions usually comprised 1,000 or more troops equipped with various types of combat equipment. Lithuania has said it is ready to host up to 1,500 US troops.