Nauseda calls concerns over NATO meeting without some allies 'artificial hype'

VILNIUS - With the Pentagon not inviting Lithuania and some other allies to a meeting in Poland, President Gitanas Nauseda said on Thursday that overemphasising the situation creates artificial hype.

He stressed that this was a meeting of the so-called Bergen Group, to which Lithuania does not belong. The format includes the US, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.

"NATO has more than 30 members, and in this case only six are participating (excluding the US - BNS). This seems to me a bit like creating some sort of artificial hype," Nauseda told reporters on Thursday. He said Lithuania and other countries could be invited to the format in the future if it expands.

The Politico news portal reported on Thursday that some European countries that allocate the most funds to defence and are US allies were not invited to a Pentagon-organised meeting to discuss the Alliance.

The country's leader stressed that Lithuania's relations with the United States are excellent. Nauseda earlier in September attended the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he met with U.S. President Donald Trump.

He said that after the meeting, where he mentioned the 5 percent of gross domestic product allocated to Lithuania's defence and the signed 10-year contract to buy American gas, he heard the US president say upon parting: "We are watching you, we will not leave you."

"So our relations with the United States of America are excellent, the United States of America treats us as a very serious, responsible and solid partner, and I would not compare these two events in any way at all," Nauseda said.