On January 31 Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas will attend annual Nordic-Baltic CHODs meeting in Denmark. Chiefs of Defence of Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, and Sweden will address relevant regional security issues, joint military cooperation projects, and participation in EU and NATO operations.
The meeting will take stock of the practical military cooperation that took place last year and will address this year's priorities. The Nordic and Baltic CHODs will also discuss security situation in the region, current matters in the respective armed forces, and prospects of further developing cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. The Baltic CHODs are expected to share experience of hosting and integrating NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion into national armed forces.
Baltic and Nordic Chiefs of Defence meet once a year rotationally hosted by one of the countries. Last January the conference was held in Finland.
Constructive defence cooperation between Nordic and Baltic countries has been developed since the foundation of the Baltic Security Assistance Forum (BALTSEA) in 1997. When the Lithuanian Armed Forces was re-established, the Scandinavian countries would provide support in upgrading equipment and training personnel. Quite a number of Lithuanian soldiers graduated from various qualification improvement courses in the Scandinavian countries. The Iron Wolf Brigade has been training as part of the Danish Division since its affiliation to the Danish unit in 2006. The countries' navies also actively cooperate and train together in the Baltic Sea.
The Nordic countries are also supporting various trilateral Baltic defence cooperation projects. Norway and Denmark deployed air personnel to the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States; Lithuanian soldiers have been performing standbys for European Union Battle Groups together with troops from some of the Nordic and Baltic countries since 2010. In the second semester of this year a company of Birutė Uhlan Battalion will be on standby for the UK-led EU Battle Group together with troops from Finland, Ireland, Latvia and Sweden.
Since 2015, Lithuania contributes to the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a capability for responding to wide spectrum operations in any part of the globe, alongside Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands and Norway. The JEF is expected to reach Full Operational Capability this year.
Spokesperson for the Chief of Defence Major Mindaugas Neimontas, office phone no.:+370 5 278 5091,+370 682 25359, mindaugas.neimontas@mil.lt
