Scott tours U.S. Army outpost in Lithuania, meets with Taiwanese officials
Sen. Rick Scott visited with U.S. soldiers and a representative of the Taiwanese government during a trip to Lithuania.
The Florida Republican senator and his wife, Ann Scott, Thursday toured the U.S. Army outpost in Pabradė, Lithuania, where he received an operations brief and met with soldiers from Florida, Scott’s office announced.
The visit comes amid turmoil in Eastern Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The outpost Scott visited is located just 20 miles from Lithuania’s border with Belarus, which has served as a staging ground for Russian troops during their invasion of Ukraine.
Lithuania was the first Soviet republic to sever from the Soviet Union by declaring its independence in 1990, roughly a year before Ukraine and other former Soviet states gained their independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Lithuania formally joined NATO in 2004, which means the U.S. is committed to its defense.
Scott voted against $14 billion in aid to Ukraine last month because it was part of a larger federal spending package. He has also called for President Joe Biden to adopt a more aggressive posture by allowing transfer of American-manufactured planes to Ukraine or enforcing a no-fly zone.
During his trip, Scott became the first U.S. senator to visit the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, which was founded last year, a move that will serve as a slight to China. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Scott introduced a bill to sanction China if it took similar action against Taiwan.
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 4:57 PM.
