On May 30-31 Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army Lieutenant General Leo Beulen is conducting a visit in Lithuania. The guest will meet with Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lt Gen Jonas Vytautas Žukas, Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force Maj Gen Valdemaras Rupšys, and will observe Sniper Day 2019 shooting competition at the Gaižiūnai Training Area in Rukla (Jonava region).
During the visit to Rukla Lt Gen L. Beulen will meet with the soldiers of the Netherlands and other allies deployed with the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal of Merit will be presented to Lt Gen L. Beulen. The Medal is bestowed for his extraordinary merits in developing and sustaining a close cooperation between the Lithuanian and the Dutch militaries and implementing the NATO enhanced Forward Presence mission in Lithuania.
Lt Gen L. Beulen has been in the lead of the Royal Netherlands Army since 2016, he contributed personally over the time to a stronger military cooperation of Lithuania and the Netherlands, paid great attention to the enhancement of security of NATO's eastern border and Lithuania, supported the Lithuanian Armed Forces in the areas of exercise organisation and military training.
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The Netherlands contributed approximately 250 soldiers to the German-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group deployed in Rukla as of February 2017. The Dutch unit operates its own weaponry and equipment it Lithuania: CV 90 infantry fighting vehicles, Fennek armoured reconnaissance vehicles, Boxer armoured personnel carriers, armoured recovery vehicles.
The Netherlands also contributes military personnel to the NATO force Integration Unit established in Vilnius to arrange training for allies forces in Lithuania and ensure communication between the forces and NATO operational headquarters. The country has also sent three rotation of the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states to date.
Lithuania and the Netherlands are closely cooperating in the framework of the European Union Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). Lithuania is part of the Dutch-led military mobility project and the Netherlands participates in the Lithuanian-led project of EU cyber response teams and mutual assistance in cyber security - and has assigned the first EU cyber response team for a year-long rotation until 2020. Also, both countries are part of the German-sponsored PESCO project for network of logistic hubs in Europe and support to operations.
Lithuania and the Netherlands cooperate on a bilateral basis on defence procurement. Lithuania has bought and is buying pre-used military transport vehicles from the Armed Forces of the Netherlands. Over 1,000 units of different pre-used military equipment have been acquired since 2012 and is successfully operated by the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Photo credit: Armed Forces of the Netherlands
