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Lithuania supports the decision of U.S. President Barack Obama to send 30 000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan and to allocate greater assistance for the reconstruction of Afghanistan, its security guarantees and development.

“We welcome the U.S. decision to offer more human and financial resources for the strengthening of Afghanistan’s security forces. If sufficiently prepared, the police and military of Afghanistan will be able to guarantee the country’s security much more effectively,” Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas said.

This is an important step that will strengthen the state of Afghanistan and will also allow making fight against international terrorism more active.

The international assistance allows the government of Afghanistan to be more effective in guaranteeing security and improving the governance of the country. It also allows giving more attention to such vitally important areas as the agriculture, public health and education. This assistance cannot be provided permanently, therefore it is very important for the government of Afghanistan to take this opportunity and speed up the reforms.

The operation in Afghanistan is the priority of the U.S., NATO, EU, entire international community and Lithuania. We need to consolidate all efforts to ensure that this important mission is successful. For Lithuania this is the largest international operation considering both the participating military personnel and the funds that are allocated to the operation, as well as development cooperation projects.

Lithuania will aim at implementing the Strategy of Lithuania’s activities in Afghanistan, civil experts will continue to carry out development cooperation projects in the Ghor Province. Lithuania will also work to attract international donors to reconstruction activities in the province. The long-term commitment to the people of the Ghor Province to assist them to restore their country will be fulfilled in this way.

Lithuania has been leading the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Ghor since summer 2005. The main task of the mission is to assist the authorities of Afghanistan to guarantee security and to create appropriate conditions for the reconstruction of the province.

The military and civilian personnel from Croatia, Denmark, Georgia, Japan, Ukraine and the U.S.A. serve hand in hand with 150 Lithuanian soldiers in the team. Currently, the tenth shift of the Lithuanian troops serves in the PRT in Afghanistan.