On Thursday, the US rotational battalions will change over during a ceremony at General Silvestras Žukauskas Training Area at Pabradė, the National Defence Ministry reports.
American troops
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Lithuania's defense budget is projected to exceed 2 percent of GDP in 2021, according to the Defense Ministry.
The possible deployment of more US troops to Poland will serve the security interests of the entire region, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on Wednesday.
Polish President Andrzej Duda will also represent Lithuania's interests during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says.
The Lithuanian Defense Ministry expects that some of the troops that the United States plans to withdraw from Germany will stay in Europe.
President Donald Trump's nominee to become the next US ambassador to Lithuania pledges to ramp up defense cooperation, but says he is not yet prepared to comment on a permanent presence of American troops in the country.
Lithuania is considering the United States' request to send troops to Syria to replace the American troops being withdrawn and help to eliminate the remains of the Islamic State.
The United States' decision to send more troops to Poland means that more of them will come to Lithuania for training as well, Lithuania's Minister of National Defense says.
The Seimas on Tuesday launched the procedure of ratification of Lithuania's agreement with the United States on the status of American troops in Lithuania.
A proposed fast-track ratification of an agreement on the status of US troops in Lithuania would be a political signal that the country is ready to host American soldiers, President Dalia Grybauskaitė's chief national security adviser said on Tuesday.
Lithuania and the United States expect to sign an agreement on the status of American troops before the January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.
