February 22, Vice Minister of National Defence Žilvinas Tomkus met with delegation of Members of the European People’s Party faction of the European Parliament on a visit to Lithuania. Vice Minister and the guests visited the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group at Rukla, met with its leadership and viewed the equipment.
“Your visit takes place amidst a seriously threatening security situation in the Eastern neighborhood. We are grateful for this firm expression of solidarity and commitment to a strong, stable and security-oriented Europe,” Vice Minister said.
Vice Minister and MEPs discussed the growing military threat from Russia, assistance to Ukraine and national security measures.
“The present security situation in the Eastern neighborhood requires mutual efforts and unity of NATO allies and the EU to protect European security and stability. NATO also needs to have all necessary forces and capabilities in place to be able to counter the increasing Russian military threat, including on short notice,” said Ž. Tomkus.
The MEP delegation included Rasa Juknevičienė, Aušra Maldeikienė, Liudas Mažylis, Petteris Orpo, Manfredas Weberis, Andrzejus Halickis, Michaelis Gahleris, Estebanas Gonzálezas Ponsas, Inese Vaidere, Paulo Rangelis.
The decision to deploy NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion-sized Battle Groups in the Baltic states and Poland was made by all NATO states at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016, in response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the changed security environment in the region. This highly capable multinational combat capability is a significant and sustainable contribution of the Allies to the efforts to strengthen security of the region.
Since the deployment of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Lithuania, over 15 thousand troops from 9 NATO allies have already trained in Lithuania in biannual rotations. Allies that rotated in military personnel to Lithuania over the 5 years are Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Croatia, Luxembourg and Iceland. They also brought along approx. 6,000 military vehicles. Combat capability enforcement is added at Rukla depending on the need. One rotation numbers up to 1,200 troops, 600 of them are currently contributed by Germany with another 350 German military personnel recently added as a result of the increasingly aggressive Russian military activity by Ukraine’s borders and deteriorating security situation in the Baltic states.