On June 17 leadership of the NATO Force Integration Unit Lithuania (NFIU LTU) presented the NFIU activities to the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas.
"At the culmination of 9 months of hard work by the 14 Nation NFIU team, made up of very competent professionals, from very different backgrounds and expertise, working to achieve the main objective of ensuring that if a NATO Very High Readiness Task Force had to come into Lithuania, we could facilitate their arrival and movement as well as that of any follow-on forces. Colonel Jakob Larson NFIU LTU Commander said while also emphasising the value of the support of Lithuania as the host nation.
"NFIUs are still developing, and with the support of the Lithuania, we will continue to build our relationship with public and civil organizations as well as the Lithuania Armed Forces to ensure we achieve the best for Lithuania and the Alliance if ever a crisis occurs," Commander NFIU LTU said.
Deputy Commander NFIU LTU Lieutenant Colonel Mindaugas Petkevičius pointed out that with Support from Lithuania the team had delivered impressive results in a very short time. "With the support from Lithuania NFIU LTU is able to improve not only its responsiveness and its agility but also its ability to make a valuable contribution to enhancing the security of the region," he said.
The NATO Force Integration Unit Lithuanian has been officially declared Fully Capable by Chief of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania, Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas, following the signing of a letter informing the declaration to General Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
On June 10 Full Capability document marking full readiness of the unit to complete its tasks was signed at the Lithuanian Joint Staff HQ where the NFIU is based.
Achievement of Full Operational Capability after 9 months of intense work is an important landmark in the implementation of the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Wales, and the first step on the NFIU LTU way to carry out its mission, i.e., to facilitate operative deployment of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) and other allied forces in Lithuania.
NFIU LTU work in Lithuania also facilitates exercises of allied forces and other NATO Assurance Measures, contributes to Lithuania's defence planning, identifies infrastructure vital for a speedy deployment of allied forces in Lithuania.
The decision to open NATO Force Integration Units (NFIUs) in six countries, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, was taken by the NATO Heads of State and Government at the NATO Summit in Wales in September 2014. All the six NFIUs were officially inaugurated on September 1, 2015. All the six NFIUs are expected to reach Full Operational Capability by the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016. The Lithuanian NFIU is one of six 40-person NATO headquarters established along the Alliance's eastern flank. Designed and manned to facilitate the reception and movement of NATO and partner nation forces within the country they reside in, NFIU's are part of NATO's adaptation to a security environment dominated by a resurgent and aggressive Russia.
NATO Force Integration Units in Estonia, Latvia and Poland have also already declared Full Operation Capability.
For more information on the NFIU Lithuania, contact the NFIU LTU PAO Maj Miguel Simoes, angelo.simoes@ltu.nfiu.nato.int
Photos: courtesy of the NFIU LTU
