Sec. 1247. Baltic Security Initiative
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Pursuant to the authorities provided in chapter 16 of title 10, United States Code, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Commander of United States European Command, shall establish and carry out an initiative, to be known as the Baltic Security Initiative , for the purpose of deepening security cooperation with the military forces of the Baltic countries. The initiative required by subsection
(a)shall be carried out pursuant to the authorities provided in title 10, United States Code. The objectives of the initiative required by subsection
(a)should include— to achieve United States national security objectives by— deterring aggression by the Russian Federation; and implementing NATO’s Strategic Concept, which seeks to strengthen the Alliance’s deterrence and defense posture by denying potential adversaries any possible opportunities for aggression; to enhance regional planning and cooperation among the military forces of the Baltic countries, particularly with respect to long-term regional capability projects, including— long-range precision fire systems and capabilities; integrated air and missile defense; maritime domain awareness; land forces development, including stockpiling large caliber ammunition; command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; special operations forces development; coordination with and security enhancements for Poland; and other military capabilities, as determined by the Secretary of Defense; and with respect to the military forces of the Baltic countries, to improve cyber defenses and resilience to hybrid threats. Not later than 120 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Commander of United States European Command, shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report setting forth a strategy to achieve the objectives described in subsection (c). The strategy required by this subsection shall include a consideration of— security cooperation programs for the Baltic countries that are authorized as of the date on which the report containing the strategy is submitted; the ongoing security threats to NATO’s eastern flank posed by Russian aggression, including as a result of the Russian Federation’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine with support from Belarus; the ongoing security threats to the Baltic countries posed by the presence, coercive economic policies, and other malign activities of the People’s Republic of China; and a description of how NATO allies are supporting the Baltic countries to achieve the objectives described in subsection (c). It is the sense of Congress that Baltic countries that participate in the initiative required by subsection
(a)should make investments in Baltic defense in amounts that, at a minimum, match with total amounts provided by the Department of Defense for the initiative. In this section— the term Baltic countries means— Estonia; Latvia; and Lithuania; and the term NATO means the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The requirement under subsection
(a)shall terminate on December 31, 2028.