On July 11 Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas thanked Secretary of State for Defence of the United Kingdom Ben Wallace for the significant British contribution to regional security and discussed further military cooperation plans of the countries. At the meeting Ministers underscored that the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) need to be able to give a particularly active response to threats and agreed that the Lithuanian-British cooperation will only grow stronger further on.
“The role of the United Kingdom in the European security is indispensable. It is a special Ally whose presence in our region is a powerful deterrent. We particularly appreciate the Joint Expeditionary Force, we view it as one of the primary means of response in the event of any crisis. We wish for an even more significant JEF role in the region, it is particularly important to synchronize JEF action with NATO and national plans,” said A. Anušauskas.
Ministers also discussed the joint assistance of their countries to Ukraine. This year, Lithuania dedicates eight rotations of military instructors to the British-led Operation Interflex for training Ukrainian military personnel, in total, approx. 100 Lithuanian troops are serving I the operation. Besides that, Lithuania is contributing to the UK-administrated international fund for organizing heavy weaponry procurement in assistance of Ukraine, Lithuania’s contribution will soon total to EUR 6 million.
A. Anušauskas also extended gratitude for the leadership of the United Kingdom in the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Estonia. Minister also met with Minister of National Defence of Canada Anita Anand to discuss the military capabilities deployed to the Baltic states. The Canadian Armed Forces is the framework nation of the NATO eFP Battle Group in Latvia.
“Canada and Germany took essentially analogous decisions about deployment of brigades in the Baltic states. The Allied presence in the region must be increased because we need to deterrence the increasingly adversarial Russia,” said A. Anušauskas after meeting Minister of National Defence of Canada.
MoD / Sgt 1st Class A. Čemerka
