Defence
Lithuanian officer begins service in new naval EU operation in Rome
Lithuania is joining the European Union-led Operation Naval Force in the Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR MED) by posting an officer to the headquarters of the operation in Rome, Italy. The Lithuanian officer began serving in the position of officer on duty at the Combined Operations Centre on 28 May, said the Ministry of National Defence. […]
NATO starts one of biggest exercises Saber Strike 2015 in Baltic states
An international exercise Saber Strike 2015 will start concurrently in the three Baltic states and Poland on Monday to train roughly 6,000 troops from 13 NATO Allies and partner nations, concentrating the largest Allied capabilities on the soil of Lithuania since accession to NATO. […]
About 40 Lithuanian volunteer troops to attend exercise in US
About 40 soldiers of the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces will start an exercise in the United States with US troops on Monday. […]
NATO jets scrambled from Lithuania over Russian military transport plane
Fighter-jets serving in the NATO air policing mission were scrambled from Šiauliai, northern Lithuania, on Wednesday evening to identify a Russian transport airplane flying above the Baltic Sea without an agreed plan. […]
NATO jets scrambled from Poland to accompany Russian transport airplane
NATO jets serving in the Baltic air policing mission were scrambled from Poland on Tuesday to identify a Russian military transport airplane An-26 flying above the Baltic Sea. […]
Army should not be rescuing civilians, Lithuanian president’s adviser says
Civilian rescue operations should be coordinated by a separate crisis management centre and not by the army, says Kęstutis Budrys, the president’s adviser on national security issues. […]
Eighty percent of volunteers fit for military service
Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas announced that 1,561 volunteers have signed up for service in the Lithuanian army by Monday morning, 25 May, and that the health commission examined the 500 of them. […]
NATO jets took off from Lithuania twice last week to accompany Russian planes
Fighter jets conducting the NATO Baltic air policing mission were scrambled twice last week to intercept a Russian military aircraft flying in the international airspace over the Baltic Sea between mainland Russia and its region of Kaliningrad, Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence said on Monday. […]
Five foreign soldiers get metal poisoning during training in Lithuania
Five foreign troops got heavy metal fume poisoning during a training event held by the Lithuanian army on Monday, the country’s Ministry of National Defence said. They are being treated at Kaunas Clinics. […]
Exercise Lightning Bolt 2015 ends in Lithuania
The month-long largest national exercise Lithuania has held this year, Lightning Bolt 2015, has ended. The exercise tested various types of situations, including swift mobilization of the Lithuanian reserve, response to a hybrid war and terrorist attacks, and also involved tactical training, the country’s Ministry of National Defence said. […]
Lithuanian defence minister to look into missing plane search operation
Lithuania’s Defence Minister Juozas Olekas will visit the Navy‘s headquarters in the port city of Klaipėda on Wednesday to inspect the initial results and course of the efforts to locate the missing An-2 airplane and its two pilots, the ministry said. […]
Baltic request for military brigade sent to NATO’s military chief
Chiefs of defence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have sent a letter to Commander of the US European Command General Philip Breedlove, asking to deploy a brigade-sized unit in the region. […]
President Grybauskaitė congratulated soldiers on army-public unity day
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė on Sunday attended the Commemoration of Partisans, the Army and Public Unity Day in Marijampolė. […]
Lithuanian soldiers train in international exercise in Norway
Since 5 May, a group of staff officers from the Joint Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces is taking part in a command post exercise (CPX) Trident Jaguar 2015 of the UK-led Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARCC) in composition of the Danish Division in Norway, Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence reports. […]
Defence minister suggests Hungary to deploy troops in Lithuania
Lithuania’s Defence Minister Juozas Olekas, currently on a visit in Hungary, has suggested that the country should deploy troops in Lithuania and participate in international NATO exercises organized in the Baltic state. […]
Baltics should have laid groundwork before asking for NATO troops, expert says
The Baltic states should have verified positions of Allies before submitting the request to NATO to deploy a military brigade in their territories, says Ramūnas Vilpišauskas, the director of Vilnius University’s Institute of International Relations and Political Science. […]
NATO chief tight-lipped on Baltic call for permanent brigade
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has so far refused to elaborate on the Baltic call for deployment of a permanent brigade in the territories in an effort to deter Russia. […]
