"Cooperation of the Baltic nations' land forces has become an established tradition over the last two decades. We have plenty of experience of working together. What we get from our cooperation we seek to apply in training for our homeland defence. There is really quite a number of multiple level projects that we are undertaking collectively, however, today our key focus and joint efforts are concentrated on training the trilateral Baltic Battalion for standby for the NATO Response Force in 2016," the Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force, Major General Almantas Leika said at the annual Baltic Land Force Commanders meeting in Vilnius.
At the session on March 5 the Baltic Land Force Commanders exchanged information on the most relevant issues in their represented services and updated the long-term plan for military cooperation among the Baltic nations' land forces, altogether called the Baltic Forces, BALTFOR. The meeting also addressed further perspectives of cooperation with the representatives of the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR).
Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force MG Almantas Leika presented to his counterparts from Latvia, Colonel Martinš Liberts, and Estonia, Colonel Artur Tiganik, the current status of his represented service. Later on the Estonian delegation presented the training schedule of the Baltic Battalion for the standby for the NATO Response Force (NRF) in 2016.
Like in each meeting of this format, the trilateral plan for BALTFOR cooperation in 2014-2015 was updated and signed. The document is drawn to promote a more efficient use of the available military resources and to carry out an active and well-coordinated military cooperation. To that end some of the national training events and various qualification improvement events will be rearranged so that military personnel of other Baltic nations could attend too.
The meeting was concluded by a presentation to the Baltic Land Force Commanders by representatives of the USAREUR Combat Training Centre on the opportunities the Centre was offering to develop assistance to the Baltic military training in the future. MG A. Leika expressed delight that USAREUR support in military training has a tendency to increase. That hints that the U.S. Army will remain one of the key allies in the future too.
The Baltic Commanders of the Land Forces gather for discussions at least several times per year: in March and in December in trilateral format in one of the Baltic States, and in September - at the USAREUR-organised annual European Land Force Commanders Conference in one of the European Union member states.
POC: Captain Mindaugas Neimontas, PR officer of the Lithuanian Land Force, mobile phone no. 00370 640 45380
