Vice President Joe Biden reaffirmed the US commitment to the security of the Baltic states during a Baltic Summit hosted by Latvia on Tuesday, according to a White House readout of the meeting. Biden and the leaders of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania issued a joint declaration reaffirming the strategic alliance among the NATO-member states. “As affirmed at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, the greatest responsibility of the Alliance is to protect and defend our territory and populations, as reflected in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty,” the statement reads. The parties also agreed to explore areas where cooperation can be enhanced, including in the cyber defense, energy security, and critical infrastructure protection fields. “By improving our ability to address conventional and unconventional threats, including hybrid threats, our cooperation will enhance individual and collective defense and national resilience, as well as uphold our collective efforts towards a Europe whole, free, prosperous, and at peace,” the declaration concludes. (See also: A New Playbook and Long Pole in the Tent.)
Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon, spent his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 19 pressing his civilian bona fides to lawmakers, with some pledging opposition to the waiver Austin would need to become the nation’s first Black Defense Secretary. Austin spent 40 years in the military…