On October 31 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius will attend meeting of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) in Belgium (Brussels).
At the meeting Chiefs of Defence of the EU countries will discuss the EU-led military operations in progress, EU's relevant issues in military area and the development of the EU military capabilities.
The EUMC is the supreme military body in the European Union composed of the Chiefs of Defence of the EU member states. The Military Committee was established as an interim institution in the European Council's meeting in Helsinki in 1999. On year later in the meeting of the European Council in Nice a permanent status was approved for the Military Committee turning it into a body coordinating military actions of the EU member states. The EUMC also renders military advice to the Political and Security Committee responsible for shaping the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
After the EUMC meeting in Brussels Lithuanian Chief of Defence Lt Gen A. Pocius will depart for Germany where he will conduct a formal meeting with Chief of Defence of Germany Volker Wieker on November 1. Lithuanian and German Chiefs of Defence plan to address points of bilateral military cooperation, perspectives of the NATO-led Baltic Air Policing mission, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF operation in Afghanistan, and the possibilities of acquiring weaponry.
Lt Gen A. Pocius will return to Lithuania on November 2.
Spokesperson to the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Capt Skomantas Povilionis, cell phone no. 00370 682 25 359.
