EU envoy says US has yet to decide on troop presence in Europe and Lithuania

The United States has not yet made final decisions about its military presence in Europe, meaning there is also no clarity on the future of US troops in Lithuania, the European Union’s ambassador to the United States said.

“I’m not sure that the Americans themselves know and have made the decisions,” EU Ambassador Jovita Neliupšienė told Lithuanian news portal 15min.lt in an interview.

“First of all, the Americans themselves need to know what to expect and what the final decisions will be,” she said.

Neliupšienė said Europe was not a priority in the US National Security Strategy, making it difficult to expect Washington to devote significant attention to the continent.

The strategy first focuses on Latin America and the United States’ immediate neighbourhood, where Washington is concerned with disrupting drug trafficking and cartels and controlling migration, she said.