On June 16 outgoing Defence Attaché of Finland in Lithuania Lt Col Antti Hauvala was farewelled and his successor Cdr Ulla Murtomäki accredited at a ceremony at the Ministry of National Defence.
“Our two countries are bound by excellent bilateral and multilateral relations in security and defence area. Even though Finland is not a NATO member, our countries are connected in other defence formats, for example, the Joint Expeditionary Force, Nordic-Baltic and the Northern Groups. Finland is also an active participant of NATO and national exercises of our country. It not only deepens mutual interoperability but also sends a strong message of cooperation in the context of the current regional security situation,” Vice Minister of National Defence Vytautas Umbrasas said thanking Lt Col A. Hauvala for the diplomatic service in Lithuania. Vice Minister presented to the outgoing official the National Defence System Medal of Merit.
V.Umbrasas also welcomed the incoming Defence Attaché of Finland to Lithuania and praised the constructive cooperation between the two countries.
The accreditation ceremony was also attended by Deputy Head of the Mission at the Embassy of Finland to Lithuania Jussi Koskela and representatives of the Ministry of National Defence and the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
The new Defence Attaché of Finland to Lithuania Cdr U. Murtomäki graduated from the Finnish National Defence University, has experience from a deployment to the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) operation in Kosovo.
Defence Attaché of Finland to Lithuania Cdr U. Murtomäki will be based in Estonia.
Lithuanian and Finnish military personnel cooperate in various military exercises. Since 2012 the Finnish Air Force has been a participant of the Baltic Region Training Event (BRTE), called Ramstein Alloy from 2016. Finnish troops have been training in the exercise with their aircraft every year since 2012. Lithuania and Finland both are partner nations in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). Finland also contributes one representative to the staff of the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence in Vilnius. In 2019 Finland joined the Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRTs) projects launched by Lithuania in the Permanent Structure Cooperation (PESCO) framework.
Photo credits: Giedrė Maksimovicz (MoD)
