The Lithuanian government said it would be willing to cover the cost of establishing a permanent US military base in the country, an offer that President Donald Trump said the US government would “certainly” consider.
“Our partners simply need to make a political decision regarding the permanent deployment of troops, and Lithuania is ready to cover the associated financial costs,” the Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Facebook on Tuesday, as quoted by LRT, the country’s public broadcaster.
Sinkevičius discussed the possibility of a Lithuanian-funded US base in an appearance on Bloomberg on Sept. 29, saying Vilnius would “go for” an American base there, akin to the Fort Trump proposed in Poland. He said he told a US official recently, “We would like to have American troops with a permanent stationing, and we are ready to pay the bill if that’s the case.”
The discussion comes amid wariness from America’s NATO allies related to efforts by the Trump administration to reduce troop presence in Europe, which has played out in fits and starts.
by Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo/Breaking Defense – Lithuania says it could pay for a permanent in-country US base
