New Defence Attaché of Croatia Navy Captain Joško Šantič was accredited to Lithuania at a ceremony at the Ministry of National Defence. Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius welcomed him in the new capacity and underscored that the military cooperation between Lithuania and Croatia had reached a new level in the past years.
“Our countries are enjoying a recently strengthened cooperation. We are close partners as we are allies in NATO and the EU, and we have shared values and interests as we work towards a stronger and more secure Europe. We thank Croatia for the contribution to the security in our region, your troops are always welcome here,” said Vice Minister M. Abukevičius wishing Capt J. Šantič every success in the work ahead.
A Croatian Armed Forces company, approx. 190 troops with Patria Armored Modular Vehicles, was deployed with the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group Lithuania in 2018 and 2020, January to June. Croatia also supports and is actively involved in the Lithuanian-led European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project on Cyber Rapid Response Teams and Mutual Assistance in the Area of Cybersecurity.
Lithuania and Croatia are also closely sharing experience as Lithuania is taking over and using PzH 2000 artillery systems. Lithuanian experts are instructed on the procedures applied for PzH 2000 howitzers by Croatian specialists and are gaining experience and know-how necessary for corresponding procedures in Lithuania.
The defence cooperation of Lithuania and Croatia began in 1994: in 1994–1996 roughly 90 Lithuanian soldiers were gathering experience in the United Nations Protection Force Croatia UNPROFOR, the first multinational operation Lithuanian soldiers deployed to after regaining Lithuania’s independence.
