On October 7–8, Chief of Defence of Lithuania General Raimundas Vaikšnoras conducted a formal visit to Poland where he was welcomed by Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces General Wiesław Kukuła. The meeting CHODs discussed the collective defence plans, strengthening air defence, and UAV capability integration into the Armed Forces.
“Lithuania and Poland are bound by our long-standing military cooperation and a shared understanding of regional security. Poland follows a similar path to Lithuania in strengthening its defensive capabilities and building readiness for potential threats. We see a mutual wish to expand the cooperation through various defence initiatives, to coordinate plans, to train together, and tighten the relations between our military units. This is important not just in terms of Lithuanian and Polish security but for the entire NATO’s eastern flank,” says Gen R. Vaikšnoras.
The Chiefs of Defence also addressed the implementation of the Orsha Plan designed to advance the interoperability of both countries’ Armed Forces and joint exercises in order to build readiness for rapid response and defence of the Suwalki Gap. Another topic discussed NATO's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI) and Poland’s Eastern Shield which is aligned with the general concept of the EFDI.
Lithuania’s Chief of Defence also paid a visit to a Polish air defence brigade to familiarize himself with Poland’s air defence capabilities and discussed the possibilities of integrating UAV capabilities into military units.
Lithuania is buying the Piorun portable short-range air defence missile systems to boost our air defence capabilities. Military personnel of the Polish Air Force were deployed to the Baltic states to conduct the NATO Air Policing Mission thirteen times before transitioning the mission to a wider air defence mission format to have ca higher readiness to respond toc air and missile threats.
Both countries maintain cooperation in training Ukrainian troops.
