NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU)
NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) in Vilnius, Lithuania, was inaugurated on 3 September 2015 at a formal ceremony attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė.
The NFIU in Lithuania is one of the six small new headquarters established by NATO in Central and Eastern European member countries in response to the recent changes in security environment.
During the NFIU inauguration ceremony in Vilnius, a plaque with the NFIU sign was unveiled by the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Gen. Peter Pavel and the Chief of Defence of Lithuania Gen. Ltn. Jonas Vytautas Žukas.
The establishment of these six NFIUs in six Allies, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, was agreed by NATO Heads of State and Government at the Wales Summit in 2014. All the six NFIUs were officially activated on September 1, 2015.
The NATO Force Integration Unit Lithuanian has been officially declared Fully Capable on June 17, 2016 by Chief of Defence of the Republic of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas, following the signing of a letter informing the declaration to General Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
On June 10, 2016 Full Capability document marking full readiness of the unit to complete its tasks was signed at the Lithuanian Joint Staff HQ where the NFIU is based.
Achievement of Full Operational Capability after 9 months of intense work is an important landmark in the implementation of the decisions taken at the NATO Summit in Wales, and the first step on the NFIU LTU way to carry out its mission, i.e., to facilitate operative deployment of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) and other allied forces in Lithuania.
All the six NFIUs are planned to reach full operational capability by the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016.
Activation of the NFIUs is part of NATO's fundamental adaptation in the face of security challenges from the east and the south.
NATO Force Integration Units are small command and control headquarters whose key mission is to facilitate the rapid deployment of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) and additional rapid response elements into the region if needed.
The NFIUs will have a key role in planning, exercising, and assisting potential reinforcements, providing a vital link between national forces and multinational NATO forces.
