Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian legislators said Thursday they have asked the U.S. Congress to uphold military support under the Baltic Security Initiative program, which the White House is due to propose to cut.
“We kindly ask you to support the funding of the Baltic Security Initiative in the fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Bill and its authorization in the National Defense Appropriation Act,” a joint letter from the three Baltic parliaments said.
The Department of Defense informed European countries last week that military support under a program known as Section 333 will be cut to zero from the next fiscal year, a Lithuanian defense ministry official said.
The joint letter comes a day after Poland said it shot down a number of Russian drones that violated its airspace during an attack on Ukraine.
The suggestion that the United States will phase out some security assistance for European countries near the border with Russia raised concerns among key recipients such as Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — former Soviet republics now in NATO and the European Union.
Lithuania’s Defense Ministry Policy Director Vaidotas Urbelis told reporters in Vilnius that, last week, the U.S. Department of Defense told Europeans that the Section 333 program “will be set at zero for all European countries” from the next financial year.
Section 333 is an authority under which the U.S. provides training and equipment to enhance the security of partner states.
The cuts, which need to be confirmed by Congress, do not affect the deployment of U.S. troops, nor the support through the separate U.S. program called Foreign Military Financing, which is administered by the U.S. Department of State, he said.
Lithuania has suggested it take over part of the funding of the separate Baltic Security Initiative support program, which is focused on the three Baltic states and is also under review by the U.S. Department of Defense, he added.
IMPORTANT SIGNAL
The U.S. military assistance “has served as a very important political signal of U.S. support”, Estonian Defence Ministry spokesperson told Reuters in an email that did not confirm or deny the move
“Security assistance to the Baltic States has so far been a strongly supported programme”, she added. “(It) has enabled us, among other things, to accelerate critical capability development and to choose U.S. equipment”.
The Baltic States plan to spend 6.3 billion euros in 2025, about 3-4% of their gross domestic product (GDP), almost three times more than before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
All three expect to further increase defence spending to over 5% of GDP next year.
Lithuania has received $200.3 million of Section 333 funding over the financial years 2018-2022, and Latvia and Estonia a total of $360.2 million over the financial years 2018-2021, according to the U.S. State Department.
The Estonian Defence Ministry spokesperson suggested it could continue: “The current administration’s direction is to significantly cut foreign aid, but the final allocations will be determined… between the administration and Congress”.
