NATO likely to approve deployment of multinational battalion in Baltics

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said on Monday she expected NATO would approve the decision to deploy multinational battalion in the Baltic states and Poland at the alliance's summit in Warsaw this July.

"The need to have a multinational battalion in Lithuania was identified long time ago. We were consistently pursuing this goal," the head of state was quoted as saying by ELTA news agency.

"The announcement by the NATO secretary general about deploying rotated multinational battalions in the Baltic states and Poland show that our allies are aware of our defensive needs," she added.

Grybauskaite was speaking after Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary general, announced earlier on Monday in Brussels that, after a vote at the Warsaw summit in July, four multinational battalions would be deployed in the region for an indefinite time. The battalions would be under the command of NATO and deployed on a rotational basis rather than being based permanently in the host countries.

"This will send a clear signal that NATO stands ready to defend any ally," the NATO chief had said. Endit