On September 24 Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis met with a delegation of Members of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The guests were briefed on the regional security situation and bilateral defence and security cooperation of Lithuania and the United Kingdom at a visit to the Ministry of National Defence.
“I would like to thank the United Kingdom for the contribution to the security of the Baltic region and Lithuania. Your leadership in developing the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, participation in exercises in the Baltic Sea, and contribution to ensuring a proper command and control chain for the JEF in the Baltic region directly contributes to a stronger deterrence,” Minister of National Defence Raimundas Karoblis said.
The guests also met with representatives of the NATO Force Integration Unit Lithuania and Director of the National Cyber Security Centre under the Ministry of National Defence Dr Rytis Rainys at the Ministry of National Defence.
Defence cooperation of Lithuania and the United Kingdom particularly has intensified in the recent years. Both countries closely cooperate in defence in NATO,EU, bilateral, and multilateral formats. One of the key instances of cooperation is Lithuania’s participation in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) which is a very important project to Lithuania, the force could be used for deterrence and defence in the Baltic region in case of necessity.
Our have soldiers served in international operations in Iraq and Afghanistan side by side with British colleagues and complete joint tasks in international exercises in Lithuania and the UK gaining mutually valuable experience. Lithuania was also on standby for the UK-led EU Battle Group with Irish, Latvian, Finnish and Swedish colleagues.
Lithuanian and British soldiers are also training together in different international exercises held in Lithuania and the UK, especially in the JEF framework, etc.
The United Kingdom delegates its representatives to support the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence and the NATO Force Integration Unit in Vilnius, one officer per each.
Photo credits: Giedrė Maksimovizc/MoD
