On November 1 through 2 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius paid a formal visit to Germany where he met with General Volker Wieker, Chief of Staff, Bundeswehr. At the meeting the top-ranking officers focused on the closure of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation due in 2013 and the related issues of pulling out national contingents. Lithuanian and German CHODs discussed potential cooperation and mutual support in providing solutions to moving out military equipment and finding the most economical methods of completing logistic operations.
Lt Gen A.Pocius and Gen V.Wieker also addressed points of a deeper bilateral cooperation. Chief of Defence of Lithuania notified his counterpart that a Lithuanian Defence Attaché will be assigned to Germany as of 2013.
The meeting CHODs also shared experience in fulfilling clear-cut reforms of the national military capabilities, exchanged views on the perspectives of the NATO Air Policing mission in the Baltic States, and the possibilities to acquire military equipment.
Lithuania and Germany are developing intense defence cooperation. Forces of both countries collaborate in the areas of combat training, weaponry procurement, Lithuanian and German troops are deployed jointly to serve in multinational capabilities. Lithuanian military are invited to study in the military education institutions of Germany, German representatives have contributed significantly to the development of military education system in Lithuania and to the capabilities of rendering subject-matter expert support. Lithuania established a European Union Battle Group in concert with Germany and both countries conducted standby in the Battle Group jointly in 2010. German air contingents were in charge of the Baltic Air Policing mission for 5 times even - in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
Before the visit in Germany Chief of Defence Lt Gen Arvydas Pocius attended the meeting of the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) meeting in Brussels (Belgium) where 27 CHODs of the EU countries addressed the ongoing EU-led military operations, discussed relevant military points to the EU and military capability development.
The EUMC is the supreme military body in the European Union composed of the Chiefs of Defence of the EU member states. The Military Committee was established as an interim institution in the European Council's meeting in Helsinki in 1999. On year later in the meeting of the European Council in Nice a permanent status was approved for the Military Committee turning it into a body coordinating military actions of the EU member states. The EUMC also renders military advice to the Political and Security Committee responsible for shaping the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Spokesperson to the Chief of Defence Capt Skomantas Povilionis, cell phone no. 00370 682 25 359.
