On January 31 the Baltic and Nordic countries' Chiefs of Defence met at the Headquarters of the Lithuanian Navy in Klaipėda. The meeting top-ranking military officials addressed points of regional security, joint projects of their countries, and contribution to NATO and the EU-led operations. The Baltic and Nordic Chiefs of Defence also discussed at length modern security challenges - energy and cyber defence, their influence on the security of state, and the activity of military capabilities in the areas of multinational operations.
Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius, Chief of Defence of Denmark General Peter Bartram, Chief of Defence of Brigadier General Riho Terras, Chief of Defence of Latvia Lieutenant General Raimonds Graube, Chief of Defence of Norway General Harald Sunde, Chief of Defence of Finland General Ari Puheloinen and Head of the Plans and Policy Department of the Swedish Armed Forces Major General Dennis Gyllensporre were present at the meeting.
Mayor of Klaipėda Vytautas Grubliauskas also met with the Baltic and Nordic Chiefs of Defence while they were visiting Klaipėda.
The Baltic and Nordic Chiefs of Defence meet annually in one of the represented countries on a rotational basis. Last year they met in the Baltic-Nordic CHODs format in Sweden. Last meeting hosted by Lithuania in this format took place in January 2007.
Lithuania commenced cooperation with the Nordic countries in 1994 when the first agreement on military cooperation with Denmark, a member of NATO, was signed. Since then a considerable number of Lithuanian military representatives have undergone studies in the Scandinavian countries. The Nordic countries support trilateral cooperation projects of the Baltic countries, servicemembers of Norway and Denmark have been deployed to conduct NATO's Air Policing mission in the Baltic States. After the re-establishment of the Lithuanian Armed Forces the Scandinavian countries assisted Lithuania in modernising weaponry and training troops and military units.
Photos by LITHNAVY and Sgt 1st Class Eugenijus Žygaitis
