Defence Attaché of Croatia in Lithuania Col Jugoslav Jozić was farewelled at a ceremony at the Ministry of National Defence today. Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius praised the strengthened bilateral cooperation between Lithuania and Croatia at the event.
“Cooperation with Croatia in defence has reached a new level. We are especially grateful and thank Croatia for the contribution to the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Lithuania. Presence of Croatian soldiers on the Lithuanian soil is a sign of steadfast solidarity and resolve to be a part of the security of our country. We have deep appreciation of that,” said Vice Minister M. Abukevičius at the ceremony.
A Croatian company, approx. 190 troops with Patria Armored Modular Vehicles, was deployed with the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group Lithuania in 2018 and 2020, January to June.
Vice Minister M. Abukevičius also thanked Croatia for the support and active involvement in the Lithuanian-led European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project on Cyber Rapid Response Teams and Mutual Assistance in the area of cyber security. It is one of the most developed PESCO projects since their approval in 2017.
Lithuania and Croatia are also closely sharing experience as Lithuania is taking over and using PzH 2000 artillery systems. Lithuanian experts are instructed on the procedures applied for PzH 2000 howitzers by Croatian specialists and are gaining experience and know-how necessary for corresponding procedures in Lithuania.
Defence cooperation of Lithuania and Croatia began in 1994: in 1994–1996 roughly 90 Lithuanian soldiers were gaining experience in the United Nations Protection Force Croatia UNPROFOR. It was the first multinational operation Lithuanian soldiers were deployed to after regaining Lithuania’s independence.
Photo credit: A. Pliadis/MoD
