Baltic States

Tuesday

Lukas Degutis

Lithuania tells America to move in

From our US edition

On Monday, President Trump was asked whether the US would consider a permanent military base in Lithuania. “They are friends of mine. They are great people. So we will certainly look at it.” That was enough encouragement for Lithuanian’s Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius, who then announced Lithuania would cover its cost. “@POTUS only needs to make a political decision and Lithuania is ready to cover the associated costs. ”, he announced on X. This is not simply another smaller European country keen on more American security guarantees.

lithuania

Wednesday

Dave Seminara

A month in the Baltics

From our US edition

On Joe Biden’s first day in Lithuania, he skipped the opening dinner of world leaders at the NATO summit and made a beeline from the airport to his suite at the opulent Kempinski Hotel for a plate of spaghetti bolognese and some quality sack time. My introduction to the country a couple of weeks later involved no fanfare, but was far more memorable. I woke up in the 700-year-old Jaunpils Castle, in a fantastic, out-of-the-way place, lost to my teenage son in an archery competition there and then drove south on winding country roads to northern Lithuania’s Hill of Crosses, a place that better symbolizes the victory of faith over communism than any other. The Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — are often lumped together.

Lithuania