On February 26-27 Sweden's Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces General Micael Bydén and his delegation conducted a formal visit in Lithuania. General met with leadership of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, representatives of the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Sweden and I have discussed the security situation in our region, informational threats, capabilities and readiness of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, contributions to multinational operations and exercises, and perspectives for further developing defence capabilities," Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas said after the meeting.
Lithuanian and Swedish representatives discussed bilateral military cooperation, the defence capabilities Lithuania had mapped out, the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States and implementation of the NATO Readiness Action Plan, including NATO exercises in Lithuania, rotational land units of NATO allies, duty in the NATO Response Force and the EU Battlegroups.
Chiefs of Defence of Sweden and Lithuania paid tribute to the freedom fighters of Lithuania by laying flowers at the Memorial for Freedom Defenders in Antakalnis Cemetery.
Later the Swedish delegation paid a visit to the Combined Control and Reporting Centre in Kaunas and familiarised with its tasks.
Cooperation between Lithuanian and Swedish militaries
Lithuania and Sweden are developing cooperation on a bilateral basis in numerous military areas, including between all the branches of both countries' armed forces: joint operations staffs, completing joint exercises for special forces, navies, air and land forces, cadet exchange programs between military academies, in 2015 Lithuanian and Swedish soldiers were together on standby for the European Union Battlegroup.
The cooperation is planned to be continued in the future through arrangement and conduct of joint exercises, information exchange between Lithuanian and Swedish navies, sharing experience in improving combat training infrastructure, etc.
Credits: A. Pliadis
POC- Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Captain Donatas Suchockis
Desk phone no: 00370 5 278 5091, cell phone no: 00370 682 25359, e-mail: donatas.suchockis@mil.lt
