Baltic lawmakers urge U.S. Congress to defy Trump, uphold military support
Lawmakers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are calling on the U.S. Congress to reject President Donald Trump’s proposal to cut about $200 million a year in defense funding for the region.
“In this region, if America goes out, Russia comes in,” said Lithuania’s former ambassador to Washington, Zygimantas Pavilionis, one of 36 Baltic legislators who signed a joint letter urging lawmakers to preserve the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI), News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Since 2018, the BSI has provided between $168 million and $231 million annually to bolster Baltic defense. The lawmakers argue the cuts contradict the Baltics’ strong track record, noting they were among the first to stop importing Russian gas and have invested heavily in defense and support for Ukraine.
The three NATO and EU members will spend €6.3 billion on defense in 2025—around 3–4% of GDP—and plan to raise that to over 5% next year.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys stressed the initiative’s mutual benefits: “Each dollar spent for BSI returns immediately in $3 for the U.S. defense industry.”
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