Prime minister expects good news on US troops in Lithuania

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius expects Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys to bring “good news” from Washington about the deployment of US troops in Lithuania, LRT reported.

Budrys is due to visit the United States in September. Sinkevičius said the minister would have a “substantial agenda” and expressed hope that the talks would produce positive results.

“Certain decisions have apparently already been made, but their announcement, until it is coordinated with our partners, is simply on hold. It would not be ethical to say something on behalf of our partners, so we are waiting for their answers. I think those answers should be positive,” Sinkevičius told Žinių radijas, a radio broadcaster, on Wednesday.

The United States is currently reviewing its military presence in Europe, according to BNS. More than 1,000 US troops ended a rotation in Lithuania over the summer, although some remained in the country.

In August, the United States sent European countries a questionnaire asking them to demonstrate progress in taking the leading role in the continent’s defence, following an agreement to increase military budgets.

Lithuania’s ambassador to NATO, Darius Jauniškis, said last week that Vilnius was receiving positive signals from Washington regarding the continued presence of US troops in the country.

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

Prime minister expects progress with China

Sinkevičius also expects Budrys to make progress in diplomatic relations with China before Lithuania assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

“I trust Kęstutis Budrys’ initiative, contacts, tact and diplomatic abilities, and I believe he will implement what is included in the government programme. He will not ignore it or delay it somehow, but will simply implement it, and I will await the result,” the prime minister said in an interview broadcast by Žinių radijas on Wednesday.

“I hope we will see some progress in restoring diplomatic relations. I want to believe this will happen before our presidency,” he added.

Lithuania will hold the presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2027, according to BNS.

In June, Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, said Budrys would most likely no longer be foreign minister when Lithuania took over the presidency.

Asked whether Lithuania would begin its presidency with a new foreign minister, Sinkevičius said that “changes can always happen” but stressed that he wanted to maintain stability.

“Especially during the presidency, we must maintain a political face and not get stuck in some turbulence or changes for the sake of change. I see no point in starting to change things again now. Objectively, there are no arguments for doing so,” he said.

The governing parties have recently spoken more actively about normalising relations with China to the level of diplomatic representation maintained by other EU countries, but this has not yet produced practical results, BNS reported.

Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas said after meeting Budrys in early August that he saw progress towards normalising relations between Vilnius and Beijing.

The countries’ bilateral relations deteriorated in 2021 after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a Taiwanese representative office in the country.