On February 18 Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas met with Ambassador of the Republic of Finland to Lithuania HE Arja Inkeri Makkonen to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
“Our countries enjoy excellent security and defence relations in bilateral and multilateral formats. Even though Finland is not a NATO ally, our countries are bound by other defence formats, such as the Joint Expeditionary Force, Nordic-Baltic, and the Northern Group,” said Minister of National Defence A. Anušauskas and thanked Finland for being an active participant in the Lithuanian-initiated Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project, creation of EU Cyber Rapid Response Teams for ensuring mutual assistance on cybersecurity.
Other topics discussed with Ambassador were strengthening the public resilience to hybrid threats and concepts of universal defence. It was agreed that it was vital to continue supporting the Eastern Partnership countries – Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, and to continue the discussion on that matter in the Nordic-Baltic format.
Lithuanian and Finnish forces cooperate in various military exercises. The Finnish Air Force joined the Baltic Regional Training Event (BRTE) exercises (called Ramstein Alloy since 2016) with air personnel and assets in 2012. Both countries are partner nations in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), one Finnish representative also serves in the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence in Vilnius. In 2019 Finland joined the Lithuanian-initiated Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project for creation of EU Cyber Rapid Response Teams.
Photo credits: Alfredas Pliadis/MoD
