Video report (by Lukas Kalvaitis)
On January 7-8 Chief of Defence Staff of Spain General Admiral Fernando García Sánchez and his delegation conducted a formal visit in Lithuania. On January 8 the guest met Vice Minister of National Defence Marijus Velička, Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas and other representatives of the Ministry of National Defence and the Lithuanian Armed Forces, during the visit in Vilnius.
"We have discussed the security situation, bilateral cooperation and prospects for interaction as part of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, led by Spain this year. I have invited our Spanish allies to join the NATO exercises held in our country this year and also to consider deploying a unit for a longer period of time for collective training with our soldiers. No concrete decisions have been made at this point, we are looking into the possibilities," Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General J.V.Žukas said.
The points discussed at the meetings encompassed the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission and the implementation of the NATO Readiness Action Plan. During the meetings Chief of Defence of Spain and his delegation were also familiarised with the capabilities and readiness of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, deployments to multinational missions and exercises, and prospects of developing defence capabilities.
The visit concluded with Lithuanian and Spanish Chief of Defence's tribute to the memory of Lithuania's freedom fighters by laying flowers at the Memorial of the Freedom Fighters of Lithuania in Antakalnis Cemetery.
The day before General Admiral F. G. Sánchez attended the handover of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission at the Lithuanian Air Force Base in Šiauliai and met with Spanish troops taking over the mission.
Chief of Defence Staff Gen Adm F. G. Sánchez was accompanied by the Chief of Operations Command, Chief of Air Combat Command, Army Sergeant Major and the Defence Attaché of Spain to Lithuania.
Defence cooperation between Lithuanian and Spanish militaries
Lithuania and Spain have been developing bilateral defence cooperation for 15 years. It is of a rather low intensity because of geographical remoteness and different security challenges the countries are facing. In the beginning the cooperation was limited to that of both countries' paratroopers (qualification improvement courses and competitions). In 2008 the cooperation was expanded: Spain has been training fighter aircraft operators of the Lithuanian Air Force ever since (27 of them have undergone training so far).
On the other hand, there a many contact points for Lithuanian and Spanish militaries when it comes to NATO format. The Spanish Air Force was conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States from Šiauliai in 2006 and from Amari (Estonia) in 2015. On January 7, 2016, Spain deployed its third rotation of the mission to Šiauliai.
Last October Lithuanian and Spanish troops were training shoulder to shoulder in Trident Juncture 2015, NATO's largest exercise since 2002, in Spain. Lithuania's contingent in the exercise included approx. 200 soldiers of the Lithuanian Land Force with roughly 50 units of military materiel, Lithuanian Navy's MCM ships LNS Skalvis (M53) with crew, logistics, military police and military medical personnel.
POC - Spokesperson to the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Captain Mindaugas Neimontas
Phone no.: 00370 5 278 5091, cell: 00370 682 25359, e-mail: mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
Credits: A. Pliadis
