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NATO presence in Baltic countries grows 2 times, in Poland 10 times — Lithuanian military

Lithuania’s Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas expects the NATO allies’ presence in Lithuania to peak next month

VILNIUS, April 4. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance has doubled its military presence in the Baltic region, Lithuania’s Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas told the media on Monday.

"NATO’s forces in our region [in connection with the events in Ukraine] have doubled. In Poland, they have grown ten times," he said.

He expects the NATO allies’ presence in Lithuania to peak next month.

"This presence keeps growing. May will see the peak. For how long these forces will stay in Lithuania will depend on the security situation in the region," he said. A major international military exercise is due in Lithuania in May.

Earlier, the Defense Ministry said that two US battalions will be present in Lithuania starting from the end of April or May. Usually they undergo rotation, but this time a new battalion will arrive in Lithuania, while the one already stationed there will postpone departure.

Lithuania’s Zoknai airbase accommodates NATO countries’ fighter jets, which are replaced once in three or four months. Also, the country houses about 3,500 NATO troops - a combat forward deployment battalion of NATO and a US rotational battalion.

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