WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) — A State Department official told Congress on Thursday that NATO remains a critical deterrent to Russian aggression, and he reaffirmed U.S. support for the Baltic states.
That reassurance comes as the war in Iran has resulted in delayed U.S. weapons shipments to Europe and the Pentagon canceling a planned deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland.
“The U.S. remains firmly committed to standing with our Baltic allies,” Christopher Smith, deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Europe Subcommittee. “These allies are leading the charge in NATO.”
Smith’s testified amid growing concern among European allies about Washington’s military commitments overseas.
President Donald Trump has pushed NATO members to take greater responsibility for their own defense in recent months. And the administration announced plans to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, while the Baltic states, wary of Russia as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year, have sharply increased defense spending and sought reassurances of continued American support.
“Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are steadfast allies, whose lived experience demonstrates their commitment to our collective defense,” said ranking member Rep. William Keating, D-Mass.
“The Trump administration has undermined our alliances through threats of invasions, tariffs and sanctions on our European allies,” he said.
Keating noted the European Union has appropriated 25% more than the United States in financial support to Ukraine.
“This is lost on much of the American public,” he said.
Committee Chair Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas, credited the Trump administration for Europe’s financial support of Ukraine.
“The administration’s decision that Europe must step up, has happened in Ukraine,” Self said. Smith agreed.
“The EU and European countries have stepped up to provide these extensive levels of support because we have challenged them to do so,” Smith said.
Māris Andžāns, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies in Riga, Latvia, said that NATO readiness in the Baltics has improved since 2014.
“Prior to 2014, there was essentially no allied presence, aside from a few fighter jets from the NATO air policing mission. Now the mission has been doubled, and importantly, there are allied boots on the ground,” Andžāns said.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have been NATO members since 2004. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, NATO significantly increased its military presence in the Baltic states.
Latvian ambassador Elita Kuzma said at the hearing that the “bipartisan support that the Baltic countries enjoy in Congress is extremely important.”
She said she hoped that “decisions about credible deterrence against our adversaries is strengthened” at the upcoming NATO summit July 7 to 8 in Ankara, Turkey.
Concerns for the security of the Baltic states rose May 7 when three drones pierced NATO’s airspace. Two crashed in the Latvian border town of Rēzekne, with one hitting an empty fuel depot. The third flew in and out of Latvia’s airspace repeatedly.
The Latvian prime minister and defense minister have resigned over the incident.
On May 10, Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, said the drones were Ukrainian and a “result of Russian electronic warfare deliberately diverting Ukrainian drones from their targets in Russia.”
According to a recent study published by Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Russia’s core objective is to fracture NATO’s alliance.
This type of attack could become more likely if Putin sees NATO’s unity as fragile or if a large-scale conflict in another part of the world pulls Washington’s attention away from Europe, the study said.
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