On February 22-24 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas is conducting a formal visit in Italy at the invitation of Chief of the Defence Staff of the Italian Armed Forces General Claudio Graziano.
On February 23 the Lithuanian Chief of Defence is planned to be formally welcomed at the Italian Army General Staff Headquarters in Rome and a bilateral meeting between the Lithuanian and the Italian Chiefs of Defence. The Lithuanian delegation will also visit Italian Army Joint Operations Headquarters and familiarise with its activities, and meet with Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Italy HE Jolanta Balčiūnienė.
At their meeting Gen C. Graziano and Lt Gen J. V. Žukas plan discussing the NATO enhanced forward presence in the Baltic region, security situation in our region and the Mediterranean, and topical aspects of bilateral and multilateral (NATO and EU) cooperation.
This is a return visit by Lt Gen J. V. Žukas reciprocating his Italian counterpart's visit in Lithuania in September 2015.
Lithuanian and Italian militaries have now been cooperating for over 17 years in various forms and scopes.
The greatest achievement in the defence cooperation so far is Lithuania's procurement of three C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft from Italian company Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A. in 2006-2009.The Italian Armed Forces is contributing to the enhancement of qualification and knowledge of the aircraft crews and maintenance personnel until this day, also assists the Lithuanian Armed Forces in training fighter aircraft operators.
In 2015 Italian air personnel with four Eurofighter Typhoons completed two consecutive 4-month long rotations of the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States conducted from Šiauliai Airbase of the Lithuanian Air Force. Italy is involved in the activities of the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence and the NATO Force Integration Unit inaugurated in Vilnius.
Lithuania has been taking part in the European Union Naval Force in the Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR MED/Sophia) since mid-2015: two Lithuanian officers completed a tour of duty last year as part of the operation aboard Giuseppe Garibaldi aircraft carrier of the Italian Navy and one Lithuanian officer serves at the operational HQ in Rome, Italy. Also, in March-August 2017 two rotations of a Vessel Boarding Team formed by twelve Lithuanian soldiers will serve aboard Sachsen F124 of the German Navy.
The Italian Special Operations Forces Command took part in Exercise Steadfast Jazz 2013, a command post exercise in Lithuania. The first bilateral Lithuanian-Italian training exercise in Lithuania that included the Alpini of the Italian Army was held in 1999-2001, roughly 600-800 of them train in Lithuania every year.
Spokesman for the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Maj Mindaugas Neimontas,
00370 5 278 5091, 00370 682 25359, e-mail: mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
