On June 17-18 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Gen Valdemaras Rupšys is conducting his first formal visit to Lisbon, Portugal, to discuss readiness to execute updated NATO defence plans, possibilities to implement the Rotational NATO Air Defence Model, the Portuguese force rotation in Lithuania, Lithuanian contribution to the EUTM Mozambique Mission and strategies for the long-term assistance to Ukraine with Chief of General Staff of the Portuguese Republic Gen José Nunes da Fonseca.
Chief of Defence will visit the Defence Staff of the Portugal, Joint Command, Land Force Headquarters, the Navy and the Air Force to become acquainted with the activities and tasks of the services during the trip.
Portugal has been developing a close partnership with Lithuania since 2004 to keep the region safe, the countries learn from each other’s experience at international exercises in Lithuania or Portugal. The Portuguese marines fusiliers deployed in Klaipėda since 2018 on a rotational basis are assigned to the Lithuanian Great Hetman Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius Infantry Brigade Griffin and are training together with the Brigade personnel. The rotational deployment is uniquely completely autonomous rather than integrated in larger Allied formations.
The Portuguese Air Force has been sending F-16 with personnel to the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission since 2007. Spanish and Portuguese contingents have been flying a reinforced mission since this April. Portugal is one of the Allies who have contributed the most numerous NATO Air Policing detachments. That also provides excellent opportunities for Lithuanian air and land capabilities to improve Allied interoperability at joint training and combat readiness activities.
Portuguese military personnel and units of the Lithuanian Navy conduct regular training in international maneuvers in the Baltic Sea BALTOPS, while as of 2022 May Lithuania has a contingent in the Portuguese-led EUTM-MOZ (European Union Training Mission in Mozambique).