On January 14 Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis met with Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Lithuania Vít Korselt. At the meeting prospects of bilateral military cooperation and NATO and the EU defence initiatives were discussed and views on the security situation in the region and the whole of Europe were exchanged.
R. Karoblis thanked for Czech troops’ participation in the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Lithuania. “It is a weighty contribution of deterrence and defence to the security of the Baltic region, and Lithuania in particular,” Minister of National Defence underscored.
Around mid-July last year military personnel of the Czech Republic joined the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group deployed in Lithuania for deterrence and defence purposes. Roughly 240 Czech soldiers began service in the NATO unit based in Rukla. Their tour of duty has recently ended and was replaced by a new rotation.
Defence cooperation of Lithuania and the Czech Republic
Ministries of Defence of Lithuania and the Czech Republic signed an agreement on mutual cooperation in 1993.
The Lithuanian and the Czech Air Forces have been holding Exercise Baltic Eye in Lithuania since 2009. During the exercise L-159 ALCA fighter jets of the Czech Air Force come to fly over Lithuania’s territory and train Lithuanian fighter operators. Pilots of the Lithuanian Air Force are training on flight simulators in the Czech Republic every year.
Czech air force detachments have conducted the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states twice so far, in 2009 and 2012, next rotation is planned to be deployed in 2019.
The Czech Republic had also deployed 150 soldiers and 30 military vehicles implementing the NATO Assurance Measures strengthening security of the Central and Eastern European NATO allies. Czech soldiers are also training in various exercises in Lithuania.
The Czech Republic is also contributing to the work and objectives of the NATO Force Integration Unit in Lithuania and has two staff officers serving there.
Photo credits: Giedrė Maksimovicz
