According to Lithuanian State Television (LRT), on March 9, local time, Lauliningas Kasiunas, Chairman of the National Security and National Defense Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, said that Lithuania would be ready to accept at least 7,000 NATO soldiers by the end of this year.
Casiunas said, “As far as the accommodation required by allies is concerned, we will be able to accommodate at least 7,000 soldiers by the end of 2022.”
Earlier on the 9th, the National Security and National Defense Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament held a closed meeting to discuss Lithuania’s preparations for NATO troops and the establishment of a new training zone for the Lithuanian armed forces in Lanningkai.
Just last week, the Lithuanian government also allocated 40 million euros to establish new camps for NATO allies. A total of about 2,400 soldiers will be placed in three camps, each with 800 soldiers in different locations.
Casiunas said, “This is already a very powerful improvement in the capacity of the host country, and this is a signal that we are driving the plan forward.” Cassius said that the Lithuanian Parliament is planning to pass a special law to accelerate the construction of Lanningkai Training Zone, which is “fully operational by 2023”.
Andrigina, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian Parliament, said after the meeting that NATO forces’ infrastructure preparations were progressing “rapidly”.
“What we heard today shows that we are moving very fast, and we will face completely different situations in 4-5 weeks.”
According to the report, the decision to establish a new military training base near Lanningkai village in southeast Lithuania was made by the Lithuanian Parliament in 2021.
In the past few weeks, NATO has sent additional troops to Lithuania in response to Russia’s special military action against Ukraine and the regional security situation. At present, the NATO troops already deployed in Lithuania have exceeded 3,000 troops.
