Minister Hoekstra visits Dutch soldiers in Lithuania

Minister Wopke Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs) will visit the Dutch military in Lithuania on Tuesday. They have been stationed there for five years to deter the Russian threat. After the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, NATO decided to strengthen its presence in the Baltic region.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Baltic countries have been urging NATO to permanently station its enhanced Forward Presence troops in the three countries. In any case, the Dutch will remain in Lithuania until the end of 2024.

The approximately 270 Dutch soldiers are stationed in Rukla. They are under German command. The government in Berlin decided at the beginning of last month to send 350 extra soldiers to Lithuania. The Dutch presence will increase this year to a maximum of 350 soldiers.

Earlier in the day, Hoekstra met his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis. He also has a meeting with the Belarusian opposition leader in exile, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya. Her country is increasingly coming under Russian influence. The Russians also invaded Ukraine from Belarus.

It is the second day of Hoekstra’s visit to the region. He visited Finland, Estonia and Latvia on Monday.

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