On June 15 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas met with Commander of the NATO Joint Force Command Brunssum General Salvatore Farina conducting a working visit in Lithuania.
General discussed activity of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Lithuania, its integration in national armed defence plans and possibilities of deployment in case of crisis or military conflict.
"General Farina shared my view that it is important to have all national and multinational capabilities , such as forward NATO forces, U.S. forces in Europe and NATO rapid response forces, synchronised and tested in acting together, as we train for national defence under NATO Article 5. Therefore I hope that we will see even more military exercises that integrate and are based on scenarios as realistic as possible in our region in the future," Lt Gen J. V. Žukas said.
The schedule of General S. Farina's visit in Lithuania on June 15-16 is also planned to include meetings with Chief of the Joint Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Major General Vitalijus Vaikšnoras and leadership and troops of the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf which is operationally subordinate to the NATO JFC Brunssum and of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group which is assigned to the MIB Iron Wolf.
The guest is also expected to visit multinational Exercise Iron Wolf 2017, part of Exercise Saber Strike 2017 held across the Baltic States and Poland. General S. Farina will observe soldiers of MIB Iron Wolf training to act together with the NATO battalions coming from Poland in defence of Suwalki Gap.
The NATO Joint Force Command based in Brunssum, the Netherlands, provides command for Operation Resolute Support and the NATO Response Force on standby. It also ensures the connection between NATO command and military structures.
Photo credits: Major M. Neimontas
Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence Major Mindaugas Neimontas
Tel. (00370 5) 278 5091, mob. 00370 682 25359, mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
