Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis is travelling to Zagreb, Croatia, today to take part in an informal European Union Defence Minister meeting. This is the first EU Defence Ministers Council under the leadership of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrel.
The Ministers swill discuss EU international operations and missions priorities. The Ministers will be joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix for a working dinner. The officials will exchange views on the current security challenges and involvement n international operations that promote international stability.
Lithuania is currently taking part in EUNAVFOR MED Operation SOPHIA launched to prevent human trafficking from North Africa and to implement the arms embargo on Libya. Lithuanian soldiers also continue service in the counter-piracy and armed robbery at-sea Operation ATALANTA off the Somali coast and the EU Training Missions in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA) and Mali (EUTM Mali).
Six European countries – Lithuania, Estonia, Croatia, Poland, Netherlands, Romania – are also planned to sign a Memorandum of Understanding concerning the Lithuanian-led EU Cyber Rapid Response Teams project on the sidelines of the meeting in Zagreb. An international CRRT will be on standby across different countries from now on, ready to respond to a cyber-attack immediately in case it occurred. This is an entirely new international cyber capability proposed by Lithuania and developed under Lithuania’s leadership. The Memorandum legally enables operation of such teams across jurisdictions of different countries, define the mechanism of CRRT operation, legal status, roles, and procedures. Formed by civilian and military experts, the CRRTs will join neutralisation and investigation of dangerous cyber incidents virtually or, if necessary, physically.
