Lithuania's new coalition seeks long-term US military presence

VILNIUS, June 18 - Lithuania's reshuffled government will aim to secure a long-term presence of U.S. military units in the NATO country, which borders both Russia and Belarus, a coalition cabinet agreement signed on Thursday showed.

Social Democrat leader Mindaugas Sinkevicius is expected to become prime minister in the coming weeks, replacing his deputy Inga Ruginiene who held the job since 2025, and to bring the For Lithuania and the Farmers and Greens Union into the government.

The coalition agreement said Lithuania, a strong critic of Russia's war in Ukraine, will "seek a long-term and uninterrupted presence of U.S. military units in Lithuania, recognising the U.S. presence as the deterrence priority".

Lithuania has been left without an armoured U.S. battalion of about 1,000 troops this summer for the first time since 2020, and the future presence of U.S. troops is under review by Washington, the Baltic country's defence minister has said.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday announced a new review of America's troop deployments in Europe and threatened to withhold some U.S. dues to NATO if "free riding" allies did not meet their defence spending commitments.

Lithuania's coalition agreement binds the government to strengthen air defences, support Ukraine and its integration into the EU and NATO, and to keep spending at least 5% of gross domestic product on defence, among the highest in the alliance.

Social Democrats voted on June 6 to remove the populist Nemunas Dawn, whose leader was sentenced for antisemitism, from the coalition government, after the party voted against a government plan to establish a military base near Belarus.

The new coalition is expected to command 75 seats in the 141-seat parliament.

The next election in Lithuania is due in 2028. REUTERS