On January 31 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant Jonas Vytautas Žukas attended annual Nordic-Baltic Chiefs of Defence meeting in Denmark (Copenhagen). At the meeting Chiefs of Defence of Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden discussed topical issues of regional security, joint projects of military cooperation and participation in NATO and EU military operations.
The meeting took stock of the practical military cooperation that took place last year and addressed this year's priorities. The Nordic and Baltic CHODs also discussed security situation in the region, current matters in the respective armed forces, and prospects of further developing cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.
"Security of the Nordic-Baltic region is key if we talk about ensuring security of the whole Europe. All the initiatives for strengthening security and defence are very welcome, still they have to be backed by defence capabilities," Chief of Defence of Lithuania said when discussing NATO, EU, bilateral and multilateral initiatives for strengthening regional security.
At the meeting, the Baltic CHODs shared insights on hosting and integrating the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion into national armed forces.
"The Nordic countries remain one of our closest partners. We thank Denmark and Norway for contributing their capabilities to the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Groups in the Baltic states. The NATO Battle Group in Lithuania has integrated successfully both, into our armed forces' combat training and defence plans over the year and is currently conducting intense training for countering potential threats together with us," Lt Gen J. V. Žukas said when presenting Lithuania's assessment of the NATO eFP deployment.
According to Chief of Defence, the allies should continue the unified efforts of strengthening the NATO eFP and thus ensuring NATO presence on land, in the sea and in the air in our region.
Baltic and Nordic Chiefs of Defence meet once a year rotationally hosted by one of the countries. Last January the conference was held in Finland and the upcoming meeting next year will take place in Norway.
Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence Major Mindaugas Neimontas, office phone no.:+370 5 278 5091,+370 682 25359, mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
