Outgoing Danish Defence Attaché to Lithuania Col Niels Henrik Johansen was farewelled and his successor Capt (Navy) Visti Salomonsen accredited at a ceremony at the Ministry of National Defence today.
Welcoming the incoming Defence Attaché, Vice Minister Greta Monika Tučkutė underscored that he Lithuanian-Danish defence cooperation was stronger than ever and the Danish contribution to the Baltic region security –highly appreciated.
“Denmark and Lithuania have shared values, interests and perspective on the European security and defence. I would like to highlight the steady and crucial Danish contribution to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states, eight rotations to date,” noted Vice Minister at the ceremony.
Col Niels Johansen was recognized for his service in Lithuania with the National Defence System Medal of Merit and luck in the duties wished to the incoming Defence Attaché Capt (Navy) Visti Salomonsen.
Capt (Navy) Visti Salomonsen has been in service with the Danish Armed Forces since 1993. His career, a deployment to Iraq in that count, is recognized with numerous decorations, including the Knight of the Order of Dannebrog.
Lithuania and Denmark are together member of several multinational formats, such as the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8), Northern Group, and the Nordic-Baltic-U.S. (NBUS). Danish officer Col Peter Nielsen has been leading the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) Lithuania since 2015. NFIU is responsible for facilitation of deployment of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Lithuania.
Denmark is one of the countries who have expressed the wish to join the demining of Ukraine coalition that Lithuania assembles and became a member of the Lithuania-coordinated PESCO Cyber Rapid Response Teams (CRRT) initiative this August. Lithuania and Denmark maintain a tight cooperation in ensuring assistance to Ukraine.
Denmark has been coherently supporting Lithuania practically and politically since the beginning of formation of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The country was also Lithuania’s first partner in international deployment to Croatia (UNPROFOR) in 1994-1996 where approx. 90 Lithuanian troops served in composition of the Danish Battalion. Both countries also partnered in the multinational operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Photo credit: MoD/ A. Pliadis
