On October 29 Minister of National Defence met with Her Majesty’s Ambassador designate to Lithuania Brian Olley. The officials discussed the security situation in the region, bilateral cooperation in security and defence.
Minister and Ambassador praised the successful cooperation between Lithuania and the United Kingdom and underscored that despite leaving the European Union, the countries’ cooperation in security and defence area will remain close because both of them are active partners in NATO, Joint Expeditionary Force and the Northern Group formats. In his turn, Ambassador expressed support to Lithuania and a resolve to continue strengthening relations in security and defence areas.
Defence cooperation of Lithuania and the United Kingdom gained pace in the recent years. Lithuania and the UK cooperate closely on defence in NATO, EU, multilateral and bilateral formats. One of the cornerstone examples of cooperation is Lithuania’s participation in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, the force that can be used for deterrence and defence of the Baltic region in case of necessity is a very project important to Lithuania.
Our have soldiers served in multinational missions in Iraq and Afghanistan side by side with British colleagues and complete joint tasks in international exercises in Lithuania and the UK gaining mutually valuable experience. Lithuanians were on standby for the UK-led EU Battle Group with Irish, Latvian, Finnish and Swedish colleagues.
The British contribute capabilities to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states.
Lithuanian and British military personnel also train together in different international exercises in Lithuania and he United Kingdom, especially, in the framework of the JEF, etc.
The United Kingdom delegates its representatives to support the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence and the NATO Force Integration Unit in Vilnius.
Photo credit: Alfredas Pliadis/MoD
