February 24, ministerial and military representatives of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine discussed aspects formation of a joint trilateral Lithuanian, Polish and Ukrainian brigade POLUKRBRIG at a Ukrainian-initiated and hosted meeting in Kiev and presented a draft intergovernmental contract on the establishment of the multinational unit with the provisions to be agreed on in the future.
The intergovernmental contract is planned to be signed this year, formation of the trilateral unit is expected to follow by 2013. Partners of the project have agreed to contribute equal part of personnel to the formation. Lithuania plans to commit a battalion-sized unit, one of the infantry battalions of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, to LITPOLUKRBRIG.
Formation of the trilateral unit was also addressed at a political level in a bilateral meeting of Lithuanian and Polish representatives on February 25 in Budapest on the margins of the EU Defence Ministers' meeting.
The trilateral project LITPOLUKBRIG was launched on 6 November 2009 in Brussels where representatives of Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania signed the Protocol of Intent on the formation of a joint brigade. Brigade's experts have been holding meetings on a regular basis since 2010 to draft documents related to establishment of the unit.
LITPOLUKRBRIG project is developed with respect to the traditions of successful Lithuania's cooperation with other states in the region. Lithuania's military personnel cooperated with Polish soldiers in the activity of LITPOLBAT (a joint battalion put into operation between 1997 and May 2008 to strengthen Lithuania's cooperation with Poland which helped Lithuania's armed forces prepare for membership in the Alliance and strengthen cooperation with armed forces of other allies ever since it joined NATO in 1999), and also conducted duty in the quintalateral EU Battle Group in the first half of 2010. Lithuanian troops together with colleagues from Poland and Ukraine for a decade (1999-2009) served in the NATO-led operation KFOR (Kosovo Force) in composition of a joint Polish-Ukrainian Battalion POLUKRBAT.
Personnel of LITPOLUKRBRIG are planned to be deployed to operations led by multinational organisations, quick response standby tasks, and a variety of training.
Pictures by Alfredas Pliadis. - military of Lithuania with colleagues from Poland and Ukraine have been taking part in the NATO-led operation in Kosovo KFOR (Kosovo Force) for a decade (1999 - 2009) in composition of a joint Polish-Ukrainian POLUKRBAT.
