On October 11 Vice Minister of National Defence Vytautas Umbrasas discussed plans and prospects of bilateral military cooperation between Lithuania and Moldova at a meeting with State Secretary for Defence Policy and International Cooperation of the Ministry of Defence of Moldova Aurel Fondos. The Moldovan delegation the importance of the support from Lithuania for strengthening the capacity of Moldova’s defence sector and the need to continue such initiatives.
“Long-term military cooperation of Lithuania and Moldova is an excellent example of consistently and effectively contributing to the efforts to strengthen a country’s defence capacity and transferring Lithuania’s experience in defence area,” Vice Minister of National Defence V. Umbrasas said.
The meeting took place on the margins of the high-level seminar on “Security Dimension in the Eastern Partnership Policy: Current Achievements and Future Prospects”. Vice Minister V. Umbrasas also met with colleagues from Latvia, Georgia and Ukraine in bilateral format and discussed relevant bilateral defence cooperation aspects.
Lithuania and Moldova have been developing defence cooperation since 2004. Lithuania provides consultations to Moldova in the areas of defence reform, public relations and strategic communication, and democratic control of armed forces, and others. Moldovan representatives are studying at the English language and staff officer courses at the Military Academy of Lithuania and the Baltic Defence College (Estonia) on Lithuanian financing. Moldovan representatives are invited to joint military instructor course at the Division General Stasys Raštikis Lithuanian Armed Forces School and military medic courses. Also, Lithuania and experts of the NATO defence military training program assist the Moldovan Armed Forces in reforming and strengthening its NCO system.
Photo credit: Giedrė Maksimovicz
