On November 28 Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Denmark Trine Bramsen had a meeting at Šiauliai Lithuanian Air Force Base. Ministers discussed the regional security situation, the upcoming NATO Leaders Meeting, and bilateral cooperation.
R. Karoblis underscored the importance of NATO allies’ presence in the region, especially in the context of the increased threats from the East. Minister R. Karoblis thanked Denmark for the long-standing assistance to Lithuania, Danish contributions to the NATO Force Integration Unit in Vilnius and to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States conducted from Šiauliai calling it “a project of strategic importance to us” and saying “the Danish contribution into it is highly appreciated.”
In her turn, Minister of Defence of Denmark thanked Lithuania for the cooperation and said it needed to become even close in the face of growing threats in the region and globally.
Ministers also addressed the upcoming NATO Leaders meeting in London to take place next week. R. Karoblis also pointed out the importance of providing assistance to Ukraine and thanked Denmark for its contribution to the development of Ukraine’s defence reform.
After the bilateral meeting T. Bramsen visited the Danish Air Force Detachment deployed on the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states conducted from Šiauliai alongside Belgian colleagues since September. It is the seventh time Denmark is contributing its military personnel and four F-16 fighter aircraft to the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission.
The Lithuanian-Danish defence cooperation is active. Since Lithuania first joined a peacekeeping operation in 1994, over a thousand of Lithuanian soldiers had been trained for that purpose with Danish assistance. Lithuanians were assigned to the Danish Contingent to deploy to the multinational operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Iraq, and Kosovo, while Denmark’s troops served in composition of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Ghor province, Afghanistan.
Denmark has great merits in training and arming the Artillery Battalion of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the country continually renders assistance for training Lithuanian military personnel, arrange joint military exercises, and deploy Danish soldiers to take part in military exercises held in Lithuania. The Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf, Lithuanian Armed Forces, was affiliated to the Danish Army Division (DDIV) in 2016–2018 and took part in joint exercises regularly, which increased the ability of both countries to carry out joint operations. On 22 May 2018 the Motorised Infantry Brigade Griffin of the Lithuanian Armed Forces was affiliated to the Danish Army Division which gives Lithuanian soldiers the opportunity to train in NATO exercises and training as part of a Danish Division.
Danish Armed Forces officer Colonel Jakob Sogard Larsen is in command of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) established in Vilnius in 2015 which is responsible for facilitation of deployment of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Lithuania in case of necessity.
Denmark also contributed to the development of multilateral Baltic projects: BALTRON (Baltic Naval Squadron), BALTNET (Baltic Air Surveillance Network), BALTDEFCOL (Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia).
Photo credits: Antanas Gedrimas /Lithuanian Air Force
