On April 13 through 14 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lt Gen Valdemaras Rupšys is conducting a visit to Slovakia to meet with Chief of the General Staff of the Slovak Armed Forces General Daniel Zmeko and representatives of the Ministry of Defence of Slovakia. The meetings will address efforts to ensure security, support to Ukraine and lessons learned, as well as potential directions for cooperation between the Lithuanian and the Slovak Armed Forces.
During a stop at the Military Training Area Lešť Chief of Defence will familiarize with the multinational NATO Multinational Battle Group led by the Czech Republic established to fortify the eastern flank of NATO: deter and defend against potential threats. NATO MN BG personnel will present the ongoing urban warfare training exercise, also, a visit to the Slovak Special Operations Forces training event is planned to take place. Gen V. Rupšys will then proceed to Sliač Air Base to familiarize with the Anti-aircraft Defence Brigade of the Slovak Air Force. Slovak military train at the annual international air defence exercise Tobruq Legacy alongside Lithuanian and other Allies, in 2020 the exercise took place in Lithuania. Another important area of cooperation is experience exchange concerning operation and maximum efficiency of MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters that Slovakia had acquired.
Lithuania and Slovakia take part together in the military mobility and the German-coordinated PESCO Network of Logistic Hubs in Europe and Support to Operations (NetLogHubs) projects, both countries are observers in the Czech-led PESCO project Electronic Warfare Capability and Interoperability Programme. The exchange of experience and skills is regular: Juozas Lukša Training Centre delegates engineers to deliver lectures in Slovakia at the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Centre of Excellence (EOD CоE) established in 2011. Troops of the Col Juozas Vitkus Engineer Battalion trained at the international CBRN exercise Toxic Valley 2022 in Slovakia last year which gave them the opportunity to train according to realistic scenarios with actual chemical materials.
