VP also discusses increased trade with Baltic states
TALLINN, Estonia — Vice President Mike Pence on Monday strongly pledged America’s commitment to protecting NATO allies against attacks, including the Baltic states, which have anxiously watched a growing Russian military presence in the region.
“Under President Donald Trump, the United States stands firmly behind our Article 5 pledge of mutual defense — an attack on one of us is an attack on us all,” Pence told reporters after meeting with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Estonian capital of Tallinn.
Mutual defense is a vital issue for the three small former Soviet states that border Russia, which were all occupied for nearly five decades by Soviet troops before regaining their independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The United States never recognized the claim by Soviet leader Josef Stalin on the three countries — which have a combined population of 6 million — allowing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to maintain independent diplomatic missions and have their national flags stored at the State Department throughout the occupation.
Saying that Trump “knows security is the foundation of our prosperity,” Pence said America and the Baltic countries would seek new ways to increase prosperity by increasing two-way trade that currently amounts to $3.5 billion and by increasing their mutual investments.
Later Monday, Pence met with NATO troops from Britain, France and the United States that are stationed in Estonia. The alliance has deployed some 4,000 troops and military hardware in the three Baltic states and Poland to counter Russia’s presence in the Baltic Sea region.
Before departing for Georgia, Pence took a shovel and planted an English oak outside the headquarters of the Estonian defense forces together with the leaders of Latvia and Lithuania.