Chief of the Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Rear Admiral Giedrius Premeneckas took part in one of the major security and defence conferences in Eastern Europe, Defence 24 Days, in Warsaw, Poland. The event pulled together senior military, political representatives from different countries, defence experts and members of the academia to discuss latest security challenges and possible solutions.
Particular attention on the Conference agenda was dedicated to technological advance on the modern battlefield. The attendees discussed the increasing role of uncrewed systems, the importance of cyber security, and application of the latest wargaming systems.
Speaking of NATO unit, Rear Admiral underscored the importance of political and military cohesion as the Alliance’s core precondition for effective deterrence. The debate underlined the necessity to maintain the shared understanding of threats, coordinated defence planning and readiness for collective Article 5 response. Also, the challenges stemming from the varying national interests were discussed. The importance of the transatlantic cooperation was clearly pointed out, as well as military cooperation and forward presence in the eastern flank which is particularly consequential in terms on stability in Europe.
The next part of discussions was focused on NATO transformation reflecting the shifting Europe’s security environment. The pressure used by Russia and China and the shift in the U.S. strategic attention towards the Indo-Pacific were named as the reasons to necessarily strengthen the cooperation among the European NATO Allies. That encompasses more conventional forces, interoperability and readiness for wide-scale operations.
Military mobility was also among the panel discussion highlights. The ability to swiftly move forces by air, land and sea was pointed out as one of the key elements of deterrence. The need to harmonise procedures to create the so-called military Schengen space was recognised. The panellists also addressed recent transportation solutions, development of dual use infrastructure and combination of different types of means of transport.
RADM Giedrius Premeneckas also underscored the importance of security of the maritime Baltic Sea region. The Baltic 2035 Panel addressed the challenges of the coming decade in the area of navigation route protection, critical infrastructure security and the growing importance of maritime and air domains. The experts accentuated the importance of strengthening measures of deterrence, Allied cooperation and the impact of new technology for power balance in the region.
Photo credits: Defence Staff
