On November 6 Minister of National Defence Raimondas Karoblis emphasized the well-faring Lithuanian and Norwegian cooperation in defence area at a meeting with the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway to Lithuania, HE Ole Terje Horpestad. Minister thanked Norway for contributing in such cornerstone areas as the NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battalion Battle Group and the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states.
Minister and Ambassador agreed that a strong transatlantic bond was absolutely a cornerstone requirement for the security of the Nordic-Baltic region. Norway contributes to security enhancement in the Baltic states by deploying forces to the German-led NATO eFP in Lithuania. A Norwegian tank company of approx. 120 soldiers with Leopard main battle tanks and CV90 infantry fighting vehicles is currently in Lithuania.
Minister thanked Ambassador for the assistance from the Ministry of Defence of Norway in the modernisation of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and acquisition of the NASAMS medium-range air defence system. He underscored the meaningfulness of the assistance that Norway had been rendering to our personnel throughout the project and expressed a wish to intensify cooperation on air defence exercises and experience exchange. Norwegian company Kongsberg formally handed over the mid-range air defence systems to the Lithuanian Armed Forces last month. The Ministry of Defence of Norway helped Lithuania acquire an assembled and integrated mid-range air defence capability and thus fill one of the worst gaps in national defence – airspace security. Earlier Norway also handed over to Lithuania the RBS-70 short-range air defence systems that are now in service with the Air Defence Battalion of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Minister and Ambassador also discussed regional security, events in Belarus, and the importance of support to Ukraine and Georgia and its continuity.
Lithuania and Norway are members of multilateral defence formats, such as NATO, Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Nordic-Baltic (NB8), Northern Group (NG).
Norway has provided three rotations of the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states conducted from Šiauliai.
