US troops deploy to Lithuania during heightened tensions in Eastern Europe

The U.S. Army will initiate on Friday the deployment of about 500 troops to Lithuania as part of a military operation, though government officials have said the strategy has nothing to do with recent political tensions in the region.

“The United States is Lithuania’s strategic transatlantic defense partner and one of the main allies ensuring the security of the entire Baltic region,” Lithuanian Minister of National Defense, Raimundas Karoblis said Thursday. “The rotation of the U.S. troops in Lithuania is a deterrence factor of particular significance contributing to NATO efforts in the Baltic region.”

Lithuania neighbors Belarus, the site of heightened political tensions as protests have erupted following the August presidential election that international critics and protesters believe was rigged.

But Lithuania claimed that the strategic move was a part of a previously planned NATO policy to move troops from Poland for military trainings.

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