On October 24-25 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas will take part in a European Union Military Committee meeting in Brussels, Belgium.
On October 24 EU Chiefs of Defence will convene at the European Council HQ to discuss EU military operations - security and stability operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, counterpiracy efforts ATALANTA off the Somali coast, and anti-illegal activity operation Sophia in the Mediterranean, under the chairmanship of the EU Military Committee Chairman Mikhail Kostarakos. A discussion on the EU training missions in the Central African Republic, Mali and Somalia will follow.
On the second day of the meeting the EU Chiefs of Defence will address EU-NATO cooperation together with Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Chairman of NATO's Military Committee. They will be updated on the topic, including on mobility and readiness to respond to hybrid and cyber threats.
The EU Chiefs of Defence will also discuss cooperation with partners of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Serbia, Montenegro, Vietnam, and the Republic of Korea. The main focus will be on the partnership with the EU and operations and missions.
A discussion by the EU Chiefs of Defence on the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and on the proposals for the second stage of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in defence area will follow, they will also receive the most recent information on the European Defence Fund (EDF).
And finally, the Chiefs of Defence will discuss the future EU command and control structure and the situation of migration.
In the end of the meeting Chairman General Mikhail Kostarakos will transfer the duties to former Chief of Defence of Italy General Claudio Graziano.
Chief of Defence Lt Gen J. V. Žukas is expected to return to Lithuania on October 26.
The EU Military Committee is the highest military institution of the European Union made up of the Chiefs of Defence of the EU member countries. The Committee has been in force since 2001 leading military actions of the EU, primarily, planning and conduct of military mission and operations of the Common Security and Defence Policy and development of military capabilities, and rendering military advice to the EU Political and Security Committee in charge of common Foreign and Security Policy of the Union. The NATO Chiefs of Defence convene for the EUMC meetings twice a year.
Photo credit: Sgt Spc Ieva Budzeikaitė
Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major Mindaugas Neimontas
+370 5 278 5091, +370 682 25359, mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
