Three military camps will be set up at Lithuanian Armed Forces divisions in Pabradė, Kazlų Rūda and Marijampolė to ensure Host Nation Support to NATO Allies deploying in Lithuania.
“NATO presence in the region is the guarantor of our security, and their presence and training on the ground in Lithuania is the best measures of deterrence against Russia, therefore we need to take care that Allied military personnel can have appropriate living and service conditions while staying with us,” says Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas says.
The Lithuanian Government allocated additional approx. EUR 40.4 million for defence and Host Nation Support, the funds will be used to install the new facilities will be installed.
The military camps will be rented in the beginning, while in parallel, contractions of stationary camps will take place. The Host Nation infrastructure will resemble that at Camp Herkus, a new camp which was passed into the responsibility of U.S. force last August. The planned camps will be equipped with all necessary military infrastructure – barracks, administrative premises, mess halls, etc.
According to Minister, rental contracts have been signed at this point, and a work group formed for procurement affairs, preparation of technical requirements is also progress. The rented camps are assessed to be fully equipped within 4 –6 weeks.
Rent and adjacent services will be provided by Arijus UAB, the procurement of services have been carried out by means of negotiated procedure without prior publication on the basis of the state of emergency in line with the Law on Public Procurement in Security and Defence. Four suppliers were contacted, two proposed initial and final tenders.
The number of NAT O personnel serving in Lithuania increased as a result of the changed geopolitical situation: NATO allies are deploying additional capabilities to the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group at Rukla well to sustain deterrence and defence, a rotational heavy armour U.S. Army battalion is deployed in Pabradė, the NATO Air Policing Mission is operating out of Šiauliai where U.S. and British airmen are deployed as well. Allied troops are also constantly deploying to Lithuania to train at international exercises.
Infrastructure development for deploying allies is a ceaseless process that also encompasses new projects at Pabradė, Rukla, Air Force Base, and parallel improvement of military mobility infrastructure across Lithuania. The grave geopolitical situation developments have accelerated the process.
