US senators urge swift release of funds for Baltic Security Initiative
Ten US senators from both parties have asked the defense secretary and the secretary of state to release the remaining funding for the Baltic Security Initiative, citing growing Russian aggression in the region.
Ten members of the US Senate from both major parties sent a letter on Thursday to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding quick release of the remaining funds appropriated by Congress for the Baltic Security Initiative (BSI). The programme, run by the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, has aimed to strengthen the defense capabilities of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania since 2021.
The senators stress that since it began, the initiative has improved the defense capabilities of the Baltic allies and cooperation among them. They call for the money to be disbursed and the related programmes carried out, given increasing Russian aggression against allies on the front lines.
Justification
To support the urgency, the senators point to recent Russian violations of NATO airspace, Moscow's hybrid warfare tactics and other actions. In their view, these show that speeding up assistance to the Baltic states is a priority.
Progress so far
In September the Pentagon announced that the BSI had been given priority status and that the process was in the final stage of coordination, being aligned with the State Department. The senators acknowledge this as important progress, but write that the escalation of Russian threats against the Baltic states requires US security support to be accelerated.
The senators want the funding to be allocated by the end of the calendar year. The State Department and the Pentagon are asked to report on this by 19 November.
