Lithuania still awaits US decision on troop presence

Lithuania has not received a final answer from the Pentagon on the presence of US troops, President Gitanas Nausėda’s chief adviser Deividas Matulionis told Žinių radijas on Tuesday, LRT reported. As a result, it remains unclear how many US troops will arrive in Lithuania, or whether they will arrive at all.

“We are certainly waiting for that decision and waiting patiently. We do not yet have final confirmation from the Americans. In terms of communication, we cannot say precisely today when they will arrive, how many there will be, or whether they will arrive at all,” Matulionis said.

NBC News reported last week that the Pentagon was considering withdrawing about 25,000 US troops from Europe. Under one scenario, the number of US troops in Europe could be reduced to 40,000. About 80,000 US troops are currently stationed in Europe, including around 10,000 in Poland.

Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington last week that the Americans would probably announce their plans for troops in Lithuania soon. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius had earlier expressed hope that Budrys would bring positive news from Washington.

Army Commander Raimundas Vaikšnoras said the United States was keeping its word and would replace the US troops whose rotation in Lithuania had ended with new personnel. He said he had specific information but could not disclose it yet.

More than 1,000 US troops and their equipment began leaving Lithuania in early June after their rotation ended. A new group would normally have arrived after one rotation, but the arrival of the next group was postponed.

Nausėda said the US troop group expected to arrive in Lithuania could be larger than previous contingents.

The United States began regularly rotating forces in the Baltic states and Poland after Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago. US heavy battalions have been rotated in Lithuania since 2019.

Universal conscription decision still pending

Matulionis also said Lithuania has not decided to introduce universal conscription by 2030. The issue will be considered by the State Defence Council, which will need to assess the costs and feasibility of such a system.

“A decision has not been made that we must introduce universal conscription by 2030. The timing of this issue remains open,” he said.

Matulionis said there was public and non-governmental organisation pressure to introduce universal conscription more quickly, but the final decision would have to be made by the State Defence Council.

“The issue will be considered and the State Defence Council will make a decision, but today I cannot confirm that it will be 2030,” he said.

The Ministry of National Defence and the Lithuanian Armed Forces will also have to calculate the cost of introducing universal conscription. The specific model has not yet been decided.

“We still have to decide what kind of universal conscription is needed: whether everyone should undergo military service, or whether some could perform the so-called alternative civilian service. We also need people in the civilian sector who would be able to perform certain supply and military supply duties in the event of armed conflict,” Matulionis said.

He did not give a specific figure for the defence funding needed to implement Lithuania’s defence priorities, but said it would exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product.