On June 30 – July 1 Vice Minister of National Defence Žilvinas Tomkus took part in the annual United Kingdom-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) Defence Ministers’ meeting in Helsinki. Representatives of the ten JEF nations discussed the most topical security issues in the Baltic and the Arctic regions, and signed the JEF Policy Direction building on the Comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding of 2018 and setting out basic guidance for future operation and development of the force.
Vice Minister Ž. Tomkus and other JEF Ministers and Vice Ministers of Defence also took part in a JEF decision-making table-top exercise and discussed possible future development of cooperation of JEF partner nations.
“A reliable deterrence is a consistent allied presence, continuous attention to regional, regularly conducted exercises,” Vice Minister Ž. Tomkus said at the meeting.
One of the main forms of JEF activity is taking part in joint exercises and operations. The JEF can be activated in support of UN, NATO or EU-led operations. The JEF can form a special purpose force depending on the tasks and situation, and every JEF partner nation will decide its contributions as its national legislation allows.
“The Joint Expeditionary Force is one of the primary means to respond to any crisis, therefore we support the increase of JEF operational activities,” said Ž. Tomkus.
The JEF was launched d in 2014 and reached Full Operational Capacity in 2018. The United Kingdom is the framework nation of the high-readiness force, and international cooperation platform. It brings together ten like-minded Northern European countries Denmark, Estonia, UK, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Iceland (since April 2021), to cooperate on defence issues. The JEF partner nations work together to develop military capabilities, prevent crises in Europe and beyond, including the Baltic region, and to act side by side if a crisis occurs.
