On September 14–15 Vice Minister of National Defence Margiris Abukevičius attended a UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force Permanent Secretary meeting in London where regional security situation, JEF capability development and strategic issues were addressed.
“We welcome the JEF development pace and we need to keep it at this level. We have the same understanding of the threats facing our region and the political will to respond. The JEF is one of the military capabilities we have that contributes to deterrence and defence in our region. At the meeting we have discussed an even more intense JEF exercise calendar,” Vice Minister M. Abukevičius said.
The JEF is a high-readiness multilateral unit, roughly 10,000 strong, with the United Kingdom as the framework nation. It is formed by sea, air and land contributions from 10 European countries.
One of the main forms of JEF activity is joint JEF exercise and operations. The JEF can be activated in support of NATO or UN-led operations. It can also form an ad hoc special purpose force tailored to the requirement of the task and situation and each partner nation would decide on its contribution in line with its national legislation.
Lithuania at the moment has approx. 140 troops of the Grand Duchess Birutė Uhlan Battalion, Mechanized Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf, with additional medical and engineer capabilities assigned on standby for the JEF. Lithuania also has a staff officer declared, he has been in service with the Permanent Joint Headquarters Northwood, UK, since early 2016.
On September 16–26 the JEF is training at Exercise Joint Protector 2021 running in the United Kingdom and Sweden where Lithuanian soldiers and civilian personnel are taking part side by side with the JEF partners of Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, UK, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden.
The exercise objective is to train JEF capabilities to plan procedures and provide command to a response to hybrid activities in the North and the Baltic Sea regions. The international command-post exercise scenario focuses on migration, energy, Nordic countries and other challenges.
Photo: courtesy of the British Ministry of Defence
