On February 10 the change of command ceremony of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group (eFP BG) in Lithuania took place at Rukla. The incoming eFP BG Lithuania Commander Lt Col Sebastian Hebisch from the 93rd Panzer Battalion of the German Armed Forces took over the duties from the outgoing LT Col Peer Papenbroock. The high-readiness multinational eFP BG capability of the Alliance was deployed in Lithuania four years ago as a collective and weighty contribution of NATO allies to the enhancement of security of the Baltic region.
Minister of National Defence of Lithuania Arvydas Anušauskas thanked NATO allies for their contributions to the NATO eFP BG Lithuania and at the same time – to the security and efforts to strengthen not only Lithuania and the region but the whole Alliance. “Commanders of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group have the honourable privilege and responsibility to lead the key unit of NATO’s continuous presence in Lithuania. Let me assure you that we will keep up the mutual work of ensuring stability and security in the Baltic region. I would like to assure as well that Lithuania will continue working on improving service conditions, infrastructure and Host Nation Support provided to the NATO eFP battalion and other allies here in Lithuania,” the Minister said.
“8 of 10 Lithuanian residents approve of allied troop presence on the territory of Lithuania and think that the multinational NATO battalion constitutes a deterrence to hostile states. We need to invest in our defence the same way we invest in fences around our houses, to protect us from threats or just for the sake of it – because we need it to feel safe and take care of our backyard calmly. NATO allied presence in our country and the region is a clear and unambiguous message to the threat keeping watch on the other side of the fence, it has tried to take advantage of our gullibility, or weakness, or sometimes blindness at various points of history already. We have to do everything possible to prevent it from happening again,” Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys said.
After his second tour of duty as the NATO eFP BG Lithuania Commander Lt Col Peer Papenbroock stressed that the mission of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence had been clear and persistent since its beginning in February 2017. According to him, together with the Lithuanian forces the eFP demonstrates NATO’s determination, solidarity and unity in the mission to defend and protect the people of Lithuania from a potential aggression, and they stand ready to respond at any moment if that is necessary.
The new NATO eFP BG rotation includes approx. 1,200 military personnel from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway.
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The eFP BG has been deployed in Lithuania since early 2017. It is now integrated into the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf. The Battle Group is training with Lithuanian, U.S. heavy battalion in Lithuania, NATO Air Policing Mission colleagues, takes part in major national Land Force Exercises Iron Wolf I and II. Even though the situation was complicated by the pandemic, the Battle Group and an additional reinforcement of the BG deployed by Germany trained in Exercise Iron Wolf II last autumn. Land element of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), under the command of the Polish contingent, was integrated into its command structure for Exercise Brilliant Jump for the first time. That has doubtlessly strengthened the interoperability of the Battle Group, other allied capabilities, and the Lithuanian Forces, and their readiness to be effective in a crisis. Over 12 thousand allied soldiers from nine NATO allies – Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Luxembourg, Croatia and France – have already rotated through the eFP to train with the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
The NATO unit has not only settled in but also naturalised over the four years in Lithuania. The military personnel have established excellent relations with Lithuanian colleagues, local communities, schools, municipalities; they take part actively in a variety of cultural and social campaigns and celebrate together with us historical and national dates of Lithuania.
Framework nation Germany also has the largest contingent of military personnel in the NATO eFP BG Lithuania. The country demonstrates leadership not only by sending to Lithuania its excellent officers but also by completing training area modernisation projects and investing into military training infrastructure in Lithuania.
Deployment of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Groups in the Baltic states and Poland was a decision taken by the NATO Heads of State and Government in July 2016 at the Summit in Warsaw.
Photo credits: Sgt 1st Class Arnas Čemerka
