Other events in Baltic States

Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius sought ''reassurance'' about U.S. commitment to the nation's security after President Barack Obama scrapped plans for a missile-defense system in eastern Europe, informs Bloomberg/LETA/

Lithuania, the largest of the three Baltic States that broke free from the Soviet Union and joined NATO after the Cold War, viewed the missile shield as a symbol of U.S. resolve, Kubilius said.

''The United States administration should know that in central Europe, the feelings are very simple, we are waiting for some kind of reassurance,'' the premier said in an interview in Brussels late yesterday. The decision to halt work on bases in Poland and the Czech Republic may add to perceptions that the U.S. is putting better ties with Russia ahead of the interests of its allies in eastern Europe. After saluting George W. Bush's freedom agenda and tough stance on Russia, easterners are less enthusiastic about Obama than westerners, a German Marshall Fund poll found this month. Obama's lowest European approval rating, 55 %, was in Poland, the poll showed. Germany awarded him a 92 % score. The poll wasn't conducted in Lithuania or its Baltic neighbors. Russia yesterday hailed the demise of the Bush plan for the missile shield, which it had called a threat to Russian security and violation of a pledge not to establish U.S. military bases in eastern Europe. ''I would not want to see such a conclusion in the minds of our people that from one or another point Russia is winning the debate over who has more influence in the happenings of central Europe,'' Kubilius said. The timing of Obama's decision –- coinciding with Russian military exercises less than 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Lithuania's capital –- may create a ''perception'' that Lithuania is less safe, Kubilius said. Eastern Europe needs ''a gesture which would show that what was intended to be done by the previous administration is going to be done maybe in another way, but which would show real and practical involvement of the United States in the building of security,'' Kubilius said.

Obama plans to replace the fixed installations with sea- based systems and mobile radars to guard against the threat of a missile launch by Iran. Kubilius said he wasn't informed in advance of the U.S. policy reversal. Asked whether the North Atlantic Treaty Organization could assuage doubts by holding more military maneuvers in eastern Europe, he said ''maybe.''