On May 6-7 Commander of the Lithuanian Navy Captain (Navy) Tadas Jablonskis met with NATO and EU counterparts at the Chiefs of European Navies Conference (CHENS) in Madrid. Among the participants there were representatives of six guest countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay.
The Conference themed “Evolution of Maritime Scenarios: Vision and Consequences for Naval Forces” focused on the modern security trends and their impact on the development of maritime capabilities across different regions. The strategic discussion covered the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, as well as the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indo-Pacific, an area where competition between major powers is increasing, as well as hybrid threats, issues in protection of undersea communication cables and technological transformation. In spite of the rapidly growing significance of uncrewed systems and AI, it was underscored at the Conference that the classical platform, the warship, remains fundamental in maritime security, deterrence, power projection and effective Allied operations across different regions.
On the margins of the Conference, Commander of the Lithuanian Navy also met with Navy Commanders of the United Kingdom and Norway to discuss different projects of bilateral cooperation.
The Conference was particularly important to our country: Lithuania has been passed over the chairmanship and CHENS 2027 will be hosted in Vilnius, thus yet again underlining our active role in the area of international security and military cooperation.
Photo credit: Lithuanian Navy
