On July 11 Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas met with Ambassador of Nigeria HE Shina Fatai Alege to discuss the multinational operations in Africa Lithuania contributed to and the vital need to support Ukraine in every way possible.
“Lithuania has been actively contributing to stability and peace efforts in Africa. It is a priority region for Lithuanian Armed Forces multinational deployments. We intend to be engaged in Africa further, our military commitments in the region will be sustained,” said A. Anušauskas.
The Lithuanian military are currently deployed to eight multinational operations in total. Six of the operations are in Africa: IRINI, ATALANTA, MIMUSMA, EUTM Mali, EUTM CAR and EUTM MOZ. Lithuania’s largest military contingent abroad at the moment serves in MINUSMA.
Ambassador S. F. Alege is the first diplomatic representative from the continent of Africa to be based in Vilnius. The Embassy of Nigeria, also accredited to Lithuania, was relocated to Vilnius from Kyiv back in June.
“In this period we must support Ukraine in every way possible. It is particularly critical that the assistance is also military, but political and diplomatic support is also very important. Support of every country matters in international organisations, such as the United Nations, and especially because Nigeria was a substantial consumer of Ukraine’s agricultural production,” said Minister.
