March 13, Minister of national Defence Rasa Juknevičienė and Chief of Defence of Lithuania Maj Gen Arvydas Pocius met with Chief of Defence of Estonia Brig Gen Riho Terrus on his first situation awareness work visit in Lithuania.
Lithuanian Minister and Chief of Defence discussed with Estonian Chief of Defence the Baltic Defence cooperation describing it as particularly successful and emphasized that further activation was needed just like new cooperation initiatives and collective procurement. The meeting officials also addressed the necessity to coordinate the Baltic defence planning procedures and defence plans.
When addressing Smart Defence both Lithuanian Minister and Estonian Chief of Defence pointed out the Baltic Air Policing mission as an excellent instance of Smart Defence and reaffirmed their joy in the indefinite extension of the mission.
At the meeting the points of defence financing, military reforms and the multinational operation in Afghanistan were addressed and the positions of the societies of Lithuania and Latvia regarding the mission presented.
On the following day Chief of Defence of Estonia will visit the Committee of the National Security and Defence of the Seimas, trips to the Air Surveillance and Control Centre in Karmėlava and to the Motorised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf in Rukla are also planned.
Lithuanian-Estonian cooperation is developed under an annually signed trilateral Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian military-political cooperation plan. Lithuanian and Estonian troops collaborate in long-term joint projects: BALTRON - a joint Baltic naval squadron whose purpose is to neutralize unexploded naval ammunition in the Baltic Sea and participate in peacekeeping operations, BALTNET - the Baltic Air Surveillance and System (integrated into the NATO Integrated Air Defence System in 2004 ) and BALDEFCOL - the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia, where officers of the Baltic States and the allies are trained in accordance with NATO standards.
More information at: Spokesperson to the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Capt Skomantas Povilionis, phone 00370 5 2785091, cell phone 00370 682 25359, skomantas.povilionis@mil.lt
Photos by Alfredas Pliadis (MOD)
